An open quantum systems approach to proton tunnelling in DNA

Abstract

The genetic stability of DNA suffers from proton transfer along the hydrogen bonds that can lead to tautomerisation, creating mutations. The authors theoretically examine the tautomerisation of the GuanineCytosine (G-C) nucleotide base-pair using an open quantum systems approach, finding that the contribution of quantum tunnelling to the reaction rate outweighs classical barrier-hopping.