Funds are requested to purchase a Circular Dichroism (CD) Spectrometer with excellent far UV capabilities. This equipment is needed to fill a significant gap in basic instrumentation. The far UV capabilities are essential for structural studies of biological macromolecules, and these needs cannot be fulfilled by any currently available CD spectrometer. The CD will be used to monitor structural transitions in peptides, structures of trapped protein folding intermediates, structural aspects of protein allosteric transitions, and effects of drugs on DNA structure. The main users include five faculty in the biochemistry department and two faculty in the chemistry department. This instrument will be administered by an internal advisory committee as a shared instrument in the College of Basic Sciences at Louisiana State University.