On Knot Theory and Protein Folding
OTHER MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT EVENTS: MATH TABLE
When: November 19, 2025
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Where: Science Center 507
Address:
1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
Speaker: Zach Buller - Harvard University
Knot theory is the topological study of closed loops, and protein folding is the biochemical study of how proteins form their functional shapes. In this talk, I investigate the intersection of these two fields: how do knotted proteins fold, and what can we learn about their folding intermediates? How can we reconcile pure mathematical formalism with messy computational data? We build algebraic and observational knot invariants from the ground up and I present my senior thesis research on molecular dynamics simulation of a protein predicted by AI to fold into a 7-1 knot.
Learn more and register on the Math Table website.