About Circular Dichroism

Background Information

When a molecule is optically active, it absorbs right-and left-handed circularly polarized light to different extents. This is called circular dichroism (CD).

Circular dichroism is an excellent method for analyzing protein and nucleic acid secondary structure in solution. It can be used to follow the changes in folding as a function of temperature or denaturant, and is also useful for measuring protein-ligand and nucleic-acid ligand interactions.

Additional Information

• Click Here to see an animated tutorial on Electromagnetic Waves and Circular Dichroism.
• Click Here to learn more about Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy.
• To download a pdf file with an introduction to CD Click Here.
• For a slide show on the use of Circular Dichroism to analyze protein conformation in solution Click Here.