New director for the Department of Physics at the University of Trento. Gianluca Lattanzi, full professor of Applied Physics, was elected for the three-year academic period 2023-2026. His term of office starts on 9 November. There were 69 out of 73 eligible voters, five blank ballots. Gianluca Lattanzi obtained 38 votes, more than the absolute …
Aug 09
Kinetics of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks through coarse-grained simulations
M. Micheloni, L. Petrolli, G. Lattanzi, R. Potestio, Kinetics of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks through coarse-grained simulations, Biophysical Journal (2023) Double-strand breaks (DSBs), i.e., the covalent cut of the DNA backbone over both strands, are a detrimental outcome of cell irradiation, bearing chromosomal aberrations and leading to cell apoptosis. In the early stages of the …
May 09
Statistical Physics of Living Systems workshop
On May 4-5, 2023 we held the workshop Statistical Physics of Living Systems. The meeting, organised by the SBP group in Trento, aimed at enabling and fostering the interaction with the Quantitative Life Sciences group at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. In this occasion, the two group presented …
Apr 20
Single molecule structure and topology of kDNA networks
Single-Molecule Structure and Topology of Kinetoplast DNA NetworksPinyao He, Allard J. Katan, Luca Tubiana, Cees Dekker, and Davide Michieletto Phys. Rev. X 13, 021010 – Published 19 April 2023 Trypanosomes are unique single-cell parasites: Their mitochondrial genome is made of thousands of DNA minicircles interlinked to form a giant 2D Olympic-ring-like network, known as a “kinetoplast …
Mar 06
Ciao Pietro!
On March 1st, 2023 our friend, colleague, and SBP group founding member Pietro Faccioli made a big step towards a new phase in his career: the University of Milan Bicocca! The SBP group has dedicated a day to look back to Pietro’s achievements in Trento and wish him all the best for this thrilling change! …
Feb 07
Fast, Accurate, and System-Specific Variable-Resolution Modeling of Proteins
R. Fiorentini, T. Tarenzi, R. Potestio, Fast, Accurate, and System-Specific Variable-Resolution Modeling of Proteins, J. Chem. Inf. Model. (2023) In recent years, a few multiple-resolution modeling strategies have been proposed, in which functionally relevant parts of a biomolecule are described with atomistic resolution, with the remainder of the system being concurrently treated using a coarse-grained …
Nov 25
Microscopic chains that mimic DNA
Rings of rings of molecules: how they stretch and twist, and what they can be used for L. Tubiana, F. Ferrari, E. Orlandini “Circular polycatenanes: Supramolecular structures with topologically tunable properties“, Phys. Rev. Lett (2022). Press-release: Italian / English The polymers that make up our bodies, such as proteins and DNA, are molecules made up …
Nov 02
International Workshop on Complex Systems
The XVI International Workshop on Complex Systems will take place in Andalo from 13 to 17 March 2023. The workshop will point out new directions, challenges and opportunities in the following fields: Andalo is a beautiful village about 30 km far from Trento close to the ski slopes of the Paganella ski area. The program will be interdisciplinary and it will …
Oct 26
VARIAMOLS/HAMMOCK group retreat 2022
The SBP group members affiliated to the VARIAMOLS and HAMMOCK research projects have gathered in Fontana dei Gai, a mountain lodge near Trento, for a three-days group retreat. This event was aimed at both carrying out research work and team building. The event flyer can be seen here. A few pictures taken during the retreat …
Oct 26
Making sense of complex systems through resolution, relevance, and mapping entropy
R. Holtzman, M. Giulini, R. Potestio, Making sense of complex systems through resolution, relevance, and mapping entropy, Phys. Rev. E (2022) Complex systems are characterized by a tight, nontrivial interplay of their constituents, which gives rise to a multiscale spectrum of emergent properties. In this scenario, it is practically and conceptually difficult to identify those degrees …