Carlos Bustamante

Professor

Dept of Chemistry

Dept of Molecular & Cell Biology

Dept of Physics

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Publications (Google Scholar)

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Contact

(510) 643-9706

(510) 643-4500

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Research Bio

Carlos Bustamante is a biophysicist who uses single-molecule approaches to study the mechanics of DNA, RNA, and proteins. He is best know for pioneering optical tweezers experiments that measure the forces driving molecular motors as well as the forces required the study of unfolding and refolding of individual proteins and RNAs. His research has illuminated how polymerases, helicases and ribosomes generate and respond to mechanical forces. Currently, the Bustamante lab is combining high spatial and temporal resolution sing m optical tweezer studies with cryo-electron microscopy and tomography to bridge the gap between function and structure of the systems we study. Bustamante is a professor of MCB, Physics and Chemistry at UC Berkeley, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His contributions have transformed the field of molecular biophysics. His expertise spans single-molecule biophysics, molecular motors, protein folding, and nucleic acid mechanics.

Research Expertise and Interest

single-molecule spectroscopy, single molecule biophysics, eukaryotic gene expression, protein folding

In the News

Can Synthetic Polymers Replace the Body’s Natural Proteins?

UC Berkeley scientist think the complexity can be simplified and work just as well.

Bustamante awarded Biophysical Society Honors

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Chair and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology Carlos Bustamante has been awarded the 2021 Biophysical Society (BPS) Kazuhiko Kinosita Award in Single-Molecule Biophysics.

Craig Hetherington, Carlos Bustamante and Shixin Liu

Researchers Find that Viral Packaging Motor Rotates DNA and Adapts to Changing Conditions

While a virus, essentially, may be nothing more than a dollop of DNA packed into a protective coating of protein called a capsid, the packaging of that DNA is critical. The molecular motors that drive this DNA packaging process, however, have remained almost as enigmatic as the viruses themselves.

UC Berkeley, Berkeley Lab announce Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute

The Kavli Foundation has endowed a new institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to explore the basic science of how to capture and channel energy on the molecular or nanoscale and use this information to discover new ways of generating energy for human use.

Carlos Bustamante honored with Vilcek Prize

Carlos Bustamante, a professor of molecular and cell biology and of physics and chemistry, has been awarded the 2012 Vilcek Prize

Featured in the Media

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positions of UC Berkeley.

January 26, 2021

If You Squeeze the Coronavirus, Does It Shatter?

The New York Times

Katherine J. Wu

Researchers are eyeing another step in the virus-building pipeline: the generation of virus genes, before they are packaged into their protein capsules. Carlos Bustamante, a biophysicist at the University of California, Berkeley, is set on sabotaging a protein called polymerase, which copies the coronavirus's genome. "We are playing tug of war," Dr. Bustamante said. "Every time it moves, it has to pull us." The hope, he said, is to understand the tug well enough to design a drug that blocks the RNA-copying process.

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Teaching

Courses taught during the three most recent terms

2026 Spring

Individual Study or Research [AST 299]
Special Laboratory Study [CHEM 196]
Supervised Independent Study and Research [CHEM 199]
Seminars for Graduate Students [CHEM 298]
Research for Graduate Students [CHEM 299]
Senior Honors Thesis [CHEM H193]
Research for Advanced Undergraduates [CHEM H194]
Supervised Independent Study and Research [MCELLBI 199]
Physical Biochemistry [MCELLBI 206]
Research Review in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: Single Molecule Biophysics [MCELLBI 219U]
Research [MCELLBI 292]
Supervised Independent Study [MCELLBI 99]
Honors Research [MCELLBI H196A]
Honors Research [MCELLBI H196B]

2025 Fall

Individual Study or Research [AST 299]
Special Laboratory Study [CHEM 196]
Seminars for Graduate Students [CHEM 298]
Research for Graduate Students [CHEM 299]
Senior Honors Thesis [CHEM H193]
Research for Advanced Undergraduates [CHEM H194]
Survey of the Principles of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology [MCELLBI 102]
Supervised Independent Study and Research [MCELLBI 199]
Research Review in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: Single Molecule Biophysics [MCELLBI 219U]
Research [MCELLBI 292]
Supervised Independent Study [MCELLBI 99]
Honors Research [MCELLBI H196A]
Honors Research [MCELLBI H196B]
Research [PHYSICS 299]

2025 Summer

Special Laboratory Study [CHEM 196]
Research for Advanced Undergraduates [CHEM H194]
Supervised Internship [MCELLBI 197]
Supervised Independent Study [PHYSICS 199]

2025 Spring

Individual Study or Research [AST 299]
Special Laboratory Study [CHEM 196]
Supervised Independent Study and Research [CHEM 199]
Seminars for Graduate Students [CHEM 298]
Research for Graduate Students [CHEM 299]
Senior Honors Thesis [CHEM H193]
Research for Advanced Undergraduates [CHEM H194]
Senior Research Thesis [MCELLBI 191]
Supervised Independent Study and Research [MCELLBI 199]
Physical Biochemistry [MCELLBI 206]
Research Review in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: Single Molecule Biophysics [MCELLBI 219U]
Research [MCELLBI 292]
Supervised Independent Study [MCELLBI 99]
Honors Research [MCELLBI H196A]
Honors Research [MCELLBI H196B]
Research [PHYSICS 299]