Quantum biology is an emerging field of science, founded in the 1920s, that looks at whether the subatomic world of quantum mechanics has a place in living cells. Quantum mechanics is an interdisciplinary field by nature, combining nuclear physics, biochemists and molecular biologists.
In a research paper published by the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, a team from Surrey’s Leverhulme Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Center used modern computer simulations and quantum mechanics to play the role of proton tunneling, a quantum direct phenomenon. in intractable mutations within DNA.
Proton tunneling involves the protonization of a proton from one location and the retrospective of the same nearby protein.
The research team found that hydrogen atoms, which are very light, provide the bonds that hold the two strands of DNA’s double helix together and which, under certain conditions, can behave like waves. scatter that can be in several places at once, thanks to proton tunneling. This results in the occasional detection of these atoms on the wrong layer of DNA, leading to mutations.
Although the life of these mutations is short, the team from Surrey has stated that they can still survive through DNA reproduction mechanisms within cells and could have health effects.
Dr Marco Sacchi, project director and University of Surrey University Research Fellow at the University of Surrey, said: “Many have long suspected that a quantum world – strange, inconvenient and miraculous – is play a part in life as we know it. While the idea that something may be present in two places at the same time may be unusual for many of us, this happens all the time in the quantum world, and our study confirms that quantum tunneling also occurs in DNA at room temperature. “
There is still a long and interesting road ahead in understanding how biological processes work on the subatomic level, but our study – and countless others over the last few years – has confirmed that mechanics oceanic playing. In the future, we hope to study how tautomers produced by quantum tunneling can generate and reproduce genetic multiplication. “
Louie Slocombe, PhD Student, Leverhulme Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Center and Research Co-Author
Jim Al-Khalili, co-author of the study and Co-Director of the Leverhulme Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Center at the University of Surrey, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with this group of young thinkers. , diverse and talented – made up of a broad consortium of the scientific world. This work confirms quantum biology as the most exciting field of scientific study in the 21st century. “
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Magazine Reference:
Slocombe, L., et al. (2021) Quantum and classical effects in DNA point mutations: Watson-Crick tautomerism in AT and GC base pairs. Physical Chemistry Chemistry. doi.org/10.1039/D0CP05781A.