The human DNA molecule contains about three billion bases and replicates every day about two trillion times. For the cellular structure to be preserved, the replication process must be incredibly precise, but at the same time, the appearance of mutations shows that the process is not immune to errors. Using computer simulations, physicists and chemists from the University of Surrey in England have shown that errors in replication can occur following quantum tunneling.
The traditional approach to the study of diseases and genetic mutations focuses mainly on the influence of biological and chemical processes, and tends to ignore basic quantum phenomena. The few articles in the field prove that the common opinion among physicists is that the biological environment is too hot for quantum processes to affect living beings. In an article published in one of the journals of Nature, the researchers from the University of Surrey try to challenge this concept and prove that quantum tunneling causes genetic mutations.
In order to understand how quantum tunneling occurs in the DNA molecule, we will start with a few preliminary sentences. The double helix that makes up DNA is connected by means of interatomic bonds. To be precise, the connection between the two sides of the helix is formed by hydrogen bonds, i.e. a proton that sticks to both sides of the molecule. The same proton is sometimes described as a step in a winding ladder forming the famous structure discovered in 1952 by James Watson and Francis Crick based on the work of Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. The DNA molecule is a wonderful way of nature to encode information using four bases called A, C, T, G with a clear coupling between A and T and C and G. The natural connection between the building blocks is based on their molecular structure, which are placed next to each other like two pieces of a puzzle. Rarely, the conjugation rules are destroyed because the right-hand relation is changed, resulting in "unnatural" connections. This process was previously predicted by Watson and Crick but only recently has it been examined in depth with the help of computer models that predict what is happening. The research done at the University of Surrey showed that these errors are more common than the scientific community thought. In this process, the protons can easily cross energy barriers, i.e. tunnel, and change their position. If the process occurs even before the two strands have unwound along the replication, the error can play out during cell replication and potentially create mutations.
In a published article About two weeks ago in the journal Nature Communications Physics, the team of researchers used principles from quantum mechanics to predict the dynamics of the DNA molecule. Based on simulations developed specifically for research, the authors of the article claim that tunneling processes are a significant factor in the creation of mutations. At the same time, it is important to note that particle tunneling has never been directly observed in biological systems (but yes in countless physical systems). In the tunneling process, a particle manages to "jump" over an energy barrier that classical mechanics forbids it to pass (because it does not have enough energy). This is similar to a ball thrown against a wall and suddenly found on the other side. The reason why tunneling is predicted in microscopic systems and not in macroscopic systems is that the probability of crossing energy barriers decays strongly with distance, or with the thickness of the barrier. I would emphasize that this is not necessarily a physical barrier, but an energy barrier. That is, sometimes particles are in a (semi)bound state that blocks them (classically) from changing their state because they do not have enough energy to change (either their internal properties such as radioactive decay or external properties such as position, momentum, etc.) but quantum mechanics shows that there is still Probability that the particles, even if they are in a bound state, will be in a different state. In order to accurately describe the effect of the environment on the DNA molecule, the researchers used the mathematics of open quantum systems that statistically predicts physical phenomena as a function of temperature and other parameters. In the current study it was discovered that when coupled to a hot environment, the proton tunneling occurs with high frequency between the two strands and even with a greater probability than the classical transitions (the classical transition occurs when the proton suddenly receives enough energy from the environment to change its position). As a result of the tunneling, the proton can be on the wrong side of the helix and create a copy error during priming.
Dr. Louis Slocombe, one of the authors of the article explains: "The protons in DNA can tunnel along the right bond and change one of the bases in the genetic code. The defective base is called a "tautomer" that can survive the replication process and create mutations." Dr. Slocombe was mentored by Professor Jim Al-Khalili, known to the public from the scientific docuseries broadcast on the BBC network. Professor Al-Khalili, who also appears in the list of authors of the article, adds that "50 years ago, Watson and Crick hypothesized that quantum mechanics plays a significant role in DNA, but such a mechanism has never been tested."
This is not the first time that researchers discover how dominant quantum mechanics is in biological systems. In recent years, the possibility has been raised that birds use quantum entanglement to sense the Earth's magnetic field, that the high efficiency of leaves in absorbing photons occurs thanks to superposition, that animals are able to smell thanks to molecular programs that can only be explained by quantum mechanics, and even that consciousness arises from the collapse of the wave function. Apart from basic demonstrations on plants, to the best of my knowledge quantum phenomena have not been directly demonstrated in animals and are still only a hypothesis. The reason researchers find it difficult to accept the fact that quantum processes such as entanglement and superposition can occur in biological systems stems from the fact that the biological environment is hot, and temperature tends to destroy "coherence", meaning the possibility of maintaining the quantum state over time.
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More of the topic in Hayadan:
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Michael, what about RNA vaccines?
RNA does not affect DNA!
Two million, not two million
There may also be a connection to an electric field or even RF radiation to cause heating and raise the energy in this sensitive system. This is a direction for further research
It is very interesting and suspicious how important it is to preserve DNA from the RNA DOGMA vaccines forced on us in a time of crisis