A Stochastic Mechanism for DNA Vitrification

By Sencer Taneri¹
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¹ University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
Source: Applied Biomathematics For Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Protein Folding: Quantitative Simulations , pp 56-64
Publication Date: November 2023
Language: English

In Chapter 5, DNA is a kind of nucleic acid consisting of two strands which are made up of two Watson-Crick base pairs: adenine-thymine (AT) and guanine-cytosine (GC). Vitrification (from Latin vitreum, glass ) on n the other hand is the transformation of a substance into a glass. DNA vitrification is achieved by rapidly cooling DNA in a liquid state through the glass transition. The quantum fluctuation in terms of random displacement and specific heat capacity of the π electrons in hydrogen bonds was studied earlier to calculate the DNA melting temperature. Same principles along with the inclusion of longitudinal phonon vibrations will be used here in order to calculate the vitrification temperature (glass transition temperature) of base pairs. This has an important application in cryonics and cryopreservation.

Hardbound ISBN: 9789815179972

Ebook ISBN: 9789815179965

Book DOI: https://doi.org/10.2174/97898151799651230101