The cell of an organism is a complex environment filled with molecules, which are essential for survival. To fully understand the cellular environment, it is imperative to have powerful techniques that can be used to analyze molecular interactions. Spectroscopy, which is the study of the interaction of light with matter, is one of the primary ways to analyze molecules within a sample. Two spectroscopic techniques that are especially useful in identifying properties of molecules are Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Raman Spectroscopy. While both techniques analyze light interactions, each provides different types of information. Fluorescence Spectroscopy is useful in identifying structural changes in a molecule due to any perturbations in the surrounding area. Raman Spectroscopy identifies the molecules present within a sample, generating a spectral fingerprint of the sample and allowing us to view how a sample changes in composition over time. We are currently using Fluorescence Spectroscopy to analyze how molecular crowding impacts protein function. Furthermore, we are using Raman Spectroscopy to analyze the difference between saliva samples of healthy individuals and saliva samples of individuals affected by breast or lung cancer.
