Table Of ContentMechanochemical study of single living
cells and biomolecules combining
optical tweezers and Raman spectroscopy
Saurabh Raj
ICFO – The Institute Photonic Sciences
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Barcelona 2012
Mechanochemical study of single living
cells and biomolecules combining
optical tweezers and Raman spectroscopy
Saurabh Raj
under the supervision of
Prof. Dmitri Petrov
submitted this thesis in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
by the
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Barcelona 2012
To my loving parents
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life -
think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the
brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body,
be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea
alone. This is the way to success, that is the way
great spiritual giants are produced.
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
At the heart of science is an essential balance be-
tween two seemingly contradictory attitudes - an
openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or
counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruth-
less skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new.
This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep
nonsense.
CARL SAGAN
i
Acknowledgements
I would never have been able to (cid:28)nish my dissertation without the encour-
agement of several individuals, such as, group members, friends, and my loving
family, who in one way or another contributed and extended their precious
support in the realization and completion of this work.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Dmitri
Petrovforgivingmethisopportunitytopursuedoctoralstudiesunderhissuper-
vision. Thisthesiswouldnothavebeenpossiblewithouthisconstantguidance,
motivation and sharing his vast experience in understanding how things work
in experimental world. His passion for research and vast scienti(cid:28)c knowledge
has always been a source of inspiration. I express my deepest gratitude to him.
I want to express my gratitude to Prof. Lluis Torner, Director of ICFO
- The Institute of Photonic Sciences, and his management team, for (cid:28)nancial
supportduring my researchwork, and formaking ICFO sucha wonderful place
for research. His leadership skills will always be an inspiration for me.
A signi(cid:28)cant role in the progress of science and technology at ICFO is the
support of administrative and human resources sta(cid:27). I would like to thank the
HumanResourceunitfortakingcareofalltheadministrativeandbureaucratic
matters during my stay at ICFO and thus, allowing me to concentrate only on
my research. I am thankful to the purchasing unit for their valuable help and
rapid processing of equipment purchases and travel funds. I am also thankful
for the timely support from the mechanical and electronic workshop of ICFO,
without them, working at ICFO would not have been easy. I would also like to
thank the cleaning sta(cid:27) for providing us a clean and hygienic environment to
work.
I am thankful to Fundaci(cid:243) privada Cellex, Barcelona and Generalitat de
Catalunya, without their funding my PhD would not have been possible.
In my daily work I have been blessed with a friendly and cheerful group. I
would like to specially thank Filip, not only for his valuable advice in scienti(cid:28)c
discussions, but also for his immense support to make my stay in Barcelona
pleasant. ItwasapleasuretoworkwithMichalandIgnacioonvariousprojects.
Ihavealwaysenjoyedmanyscienti(cid:28)candnon-scienti(cid:28)cdiscussionsthatwehad
duringco(cid:27)eebreaksandvariousoutings. ManythankstoIgnaciofortranslating
my abstract in Spanish. Stefan, Satish, Monica, Claudia and Ali, all have been
a wonderful person and made my stay in Barcelona very comfortable in both
scienti(cid:28)c and non-scienti(cid:28)c way.
I would like to thank Dr. Susana Campoy and Carlota for helping me in
PCR techniques and Prof. Felix Ritort and Joan for helping me in making a
stronger DNA-bead construct.
I am also thankful to Prof. P. K. Gupta, Dr. Deepthy Menon, Sri Raktim
Dasgupta,Prof. Nampooriandmanyothercollegeandschoolteachersforlend-
ing their precious time and advice to me and contributing in my development
at di(cid:27)erent stages of my life.
I would like to thank all my friends Joyee, Chaitanya, Mousumi, Kan-
chan,Ramaiah,Srividya,Arup,Goutam,Dhriti,Nikhil,Sudhir,Manoj,Kavita,
Ritwick, Ujjwal da, Aditi di, Rajan, Pavan, Anju and many others for making
mystayenjoyable. Iwouldalsoliketoshowappreciationtowardsmyschooland
Acknowledgements ii
college friends. Special thanks to Varun, Avishek and Vishal for the wonderful
friends they have been.
I would like to express my deepest admiration towards Jasleen for her love,
dedication and support.
WherewouldIbewithoutmyfamily? Icannotthankmyparents,SriNakul
Lall and Late Smt Pushpa Lall, enough. They stood by me unconditionally for
all my life. They were always there for me in my joy and sorrow, even though
I was not able to be there for them when needed. My mother sincerely raised
me with her caring and gentle love and helped me in becoming a good human
being. Her untimely demise during my PhD left a void never to be (cid:28)lled again.
My father has been my hero and my (cid:28)rst teacher. He gave me full freedom and
providedmewithalltherequirementstoleadameaningfullife. Theyarealways
the motivation for every constructive thing I have done in my life. I am blessed
tohaveSurabhiasmysibling. Shehasalwaysbeencaringandsupportive. Iam
fortunatetohaveNimishaandManishaasmysisters. IamgratefultoNimisha
for all the love and care she has showered on me. I would also like to extend
thanks to my brother in-laws, Mahendra and Pankaj, for guiding me through
various parts of my life and always (cid:28)nding out time for me from their busy
schedule.
Finally,Iwouldliketothankeverybodywhowasimportanttothesuccessful
realizationofthesis,andmysincereapologytothosewhomIcouldnotmention
personally one by one.
