On Tuesday February 24, 2004, 4:00 PM Barus & Holley (Room TBA) Antonio Castro Neto (Boston University) presented a talk entitled:

"Possible mechanisms of charge transport in DNA molecules"

as part of the Seminar Series

"Frontiers in the Interaction Between Physics and Biology"

Abstract:

Recent experiments in charge transport in DNA indicate that electrons play an important role in some biological functions such as repair and mutagenesis. DNA has also been investigated as a template for nano-science/technology. Although the interest in DNA electronics has been increasing over the years, there is not yet a final picture of the mechanisms of electronic transport. Experiments have shown conflicting results, from superconductivity to insulating behavior. In this seminar we are going to discuss the effect of vibrations and Hydrogen bonds in the charge transport in DNA and how they lead to non-linear excitations such as solitons and polarons. Furthermore, we will try to correlate these mechanisms to various biological functions.