Taekjip Ha

Leader in the field of single-molecule biophysics. He invented the single-molecule FRET (smFRET) technology (with Shimon Weiss). He made numerous technological innovations, which enabled powerful biological applications of smFRET, including surface-anchoring for probing dynamics of individual biomolecules (with Steven Chu), multi-color FRET for probing complex molecular systems, and smFRET-optical tweezers combination for mechanochemical studies. Pioneered the application of smFRET to biological systems. His biological investigations using smFRET conceptually advanced understanding of the structural dynamics of nucleic acids and the functional mechanisms of nucleic acid-interacting enzymes, including helicases, ssDNA-binding proteins, and the ribosome.