A Quantum Mechanical Approach to Understanding DNA Mutations

Berkeley Scientific: the journal of young scientists

article

Michelle Yang

关键词: Quantum Mechanics;    DNA;    Quantum Tunneling;    Hydrogen Bond;    Proton Tunneling;    Mutation;    Potential Barrier;   

DOI  :  10.5070/BS3241046911

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: University of California, Berkeley

【 摘 要 】

From the unfortunate passing of cancer patient Henrietta Lacks camethe discovery that the cells from her cervical tumor were extremely robust and couldbe easily kept alive in culture. These cells,known as HeLa cells, have helped scientiststest cancer treatments, formulate variousvaccines, create imaging techniques, andmuch more, but also have brought aboutpressing questions.1,2 Despite frequent genetic mutations that would cause ordinarycell lines to quickly die, how are some HeLacells mutation-free? What triggers mutations in cells, and more importantly, cansuch mutations be prevented? The key toanswering these questions lies in understanding DNA, the code for life, a pattern ofnucleotides unique to every living creaturethat results in the broad diversity of traitswe see in life today. Changing even a singlenucleotide in an organism’s code could shifta cell’s fate onto an unfortunate path, orgive an organism a useful trait. Since DNA’sdiscovery in the late 1860s, the reasonsfor why and how DNA evolves over timewere thought to be the key to linking themacroscopic observation of evolution withmolecular and cell biology. Starting in themid-1900s, Per-Olov Löwdin, often hailedas a founding father of quantum chemistry,began to offer a quantum mechanical approach to some of the mysteries behind genetic mutations, helping to inspire the fieldof quantum biology and breakthroughs inDNA research that brings us closer thanever to solving the mysteries of DNA mutations and manipulating the genetic code.

【 授权许可】

Unknown