Biochemistry research at the University of Maryland, College Park emphasizes fundamental approaches to molecular aspects of how biological systems work. Biophysical chemistry is a particular strength, including optical spectroscopy (Dayie, Kahn), NMR (Fushman, Tugarinov, Dayie), fluorescence (Kahn, Beckett), and X-ray crystallography (LaRonde-LeBlanc, Paukstelis). Several groups work on the molecular machines involved in protein folding (Lorimer), transcription and regulation (Kahn, Beckett), and recombination and repair (Julin), nucleic acid biochemistry (Kahn, LaRonde-LeBlanc, Paukstelis), and proteomics (Fenselau). Most projects are carried out by one or a few graduate students, undergraduates, and postdocs, so there is constant contact among faculty and students. Biochemistry groups benefit from connections with many other programs on campus, including Biophysics, the BISI umbrella graduate program (especially Molecular and Cellular Biology), and Bioengineering.