Abstract
FROM quantum mechanical calculations on the electronic structure of DNA1–3 a mechanism was proposed for the onset of DNA-duplication3,4. It has been assumed that the mobile π-electrons of the macromolecule, which, according to Eley and Spivey5, cause the semi-conductivity of DNA, can be polarized by the effect of local electrostatic fields present inside the cell. As a result of polarization free electron charges may appear at the end of the DNA double-helix; the repulsion between the charged nucleotide bases at the ends of the molecules may lead to the breaking of the bonds between them and thus induce the unwinding of the double-helix3,5. The unwinding of the helix being, according to the Watson–Crick duplication mechanism6, the starting point of DNA duplication, it seemed reasonable to suppose that the appearance of free charges at the ends of the molecule might induce DNA multiplication. It was therefore decided to examine the behaviour of cell cultures exposed to the effect of strong electrostatic fields4.
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BOZÓKY, L., KISZELY, G., HOFFMANN, T. et al. Effect of Electrostatic Fields on Cell Mitosis. Nature 199, 1306 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/1991306a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1991306a0
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