Enrique Peacock-López

Professor of Chemistry

at Williams since 1988

Education

Contact Information

Courses Taught

Peacock attractor from QPL model of the Complemet's alternative pathway

Research interests

My group carries out a variety of nonlinear dynamics investigations of systems of biological interest. Recently we have studied chemical self-replication, including cross-catalytic mechanisms and prion self-replication. A second goal of our work is to elucidate the mechanism of transport of incompletely spliced mRNAs across the nuclear membrane, which is regulated by HIV-Rev protein. Our work is supported by the National Science Foundation through a Research in Undergraduate Institution grant from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry section of the Chemistry Division and the Genes and Genome Systems program within the Molecular and Cellular Bioscience Division. (www.sciencestorm.com/award/0548622.html)

"Yet if we do not understand the cell, we can never completely understand the organism. And if we do not understand the constituent molecules, we cannot properly understand the cell. Molecules, therefore, must be the starting point for our discussion of the living cell.." in "Molecular Biology of the Cell" by Bruce Alberts et. al.

Nonlinear Dynamics in Chemistry, Biology and Physics
Chemical and Biochemical Mechanisms as Dynamical Systems ( movie)
In our research, we study chemical mechanisms from cell physiology and construct models. The differential equations associated to the models are analyzed using different software packages. We are interested in localizing regions in parameter space where complex dynamic behavior appears.
Some of the models and their corresponding physical systems are:
  • Complex models - Complement system
  • Autocatalytic template mechanisms - Triple stranded DNA and self replicating molecules
  • Negative feedback coupling - Hormone regulation - HIV1-Rev regulation
  • Minimal models - Glycolysis and hepathocytes
  • Cascade mechanisms - Signal transduction
  • Reaction-diffusion equation - Spatio-temporal patterns
  • Population Dynamics - Food chains and mutualism
  • Soft potentials - Generalized Duffing equation
     
    MATHEMATICA 6 and chemical self-replication
     
     

    Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics

    Also, I am interested in studying the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of chemical reaction in condensed phase.

    • Laberithm-1 and Laberithm-2 from Templator's reaction diffusion analysis.

     
    My daughter (Dartmouth 03) in La Republica Dominicana working for GrassRootSoccer as part of her requirements for a master's degree at Harvard School of Public Health.

    La Familia at Dartmouth College Graduation

    My daughter (Dartmouth 05) at Dartmouth College

    From "The Brothers K" by David James Duncan

    "Vic Power, the Indians' Negro first baseman, is the hitter. It's weird to see a big black man like Power getting called an "Indian." Come to think of it, it's pretty strange to see a bunch of white guys running around calling themselves "Indians" too. How are real Indians supposed to feel about it? I mean, what if there was a team of Negroes and Indians called "the Cleveland White Guys"? I think a lot of pale-faced folks wouldn't be all that thrilled. That's one big advantage the Yankees have: black, red, brown, or white, they look like Yanks, and act like Yanks, and are Yanks. None of this cutesy Oriole or Cub or White-Indian crap for them"

    Some of my Williams research students

     
    • Ang Li '11, MD/PhD Columbia U.
    • S. J. Lou '09, Ph. D. at Northwestern U.
    • J. M. Chung '07, Teching at Horace Mann School (NY City).
    • K. M. Beutel '06, Teach for America 07-08 (Chicago); Grad. School at U. Minnesota.
    • E. D. McGehee '05 , Harvard Law '10.
    • J. Ishizuka '04, Rhodes Scholar (PhD Oxford 07) Postdoc - NIH; Med. School Harvard U..
    • G. W. Albert '99, (MD/MPH Tufts U 03) Neurosurgery (University of Iowa)
    • Geoffrey R. Hutchison '99, (PhD Northwestern 04) Assistant Professor U Pittsburgh.
    • Leo L Tsai '98, (Herchel Smith Fellow, M. Sc. Cambridge U. 00) MD-PhD Harvard U..
    • Casey H. Londergan '97 (PhD UC San Diego 03) Assistant Professor, Haverford College
    • Daniel B. Radov'96, (Herchel Smith Fellow, M. Phil, Cambridge U. 98) Research Associate at Harvard Business School.
    • Elizabeth Juang '95, (PhD UC Berkeley 00)
    • Carolyn S. Flesner'94, MS in Computer Science, Tufts University
    • Ethan Marin'93, MD/PhD University of Michigan Medical School
    • Katherine T. Queeney '92 (PhD Harvard 98) Professor, Smith College.
    • Darren K. MacFarland '91, (PhD U. Wisconsin 96), Director, Global Chemistry New Product Development, at HACH
    • Michael W. Swartz '90, Candbridge Soft

     
    ALL PUBLICATIONS

    Selected publications

    MATHEMATICA 8 demostration of chemical self-replication

    Williams Chemistry