Radiation Induced Molecular Phenomena in Nucleic Acids A Comprehensi
This volume presents a comprehensive overview of theoretical and experimental data on Ultraviolet radiation and low energy electron induced phenomena in nucleic acid fragments. The elucidation of possible mechanisms of these events is important for all li
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MANOJ K. SHUKLA AND JERZY LESZCZYNSKI∗ Computational Center for Molecular Structure and Interactions, Department of Chemistry, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, USA Abstract:
A brief elucidation of focus of the current volume is provided. It has been pointed out that a cohrent strategy incorporating both theoretical and experimental approaches is needed to study the molecular building blocks of nucleic acids. These investigations will help enriching our understanding of behavior of genetic materials. A brief description of available theoretical and experimental methods in exploring intrinsic and extrinsic properties of genetic molecules and the essence of the book is presented in this introductory chapter
Keywords:
Nucleic Acid Bases, Ultrafast Nonradiative Deactivation, Excited State, Radiation Induced DNA Damage, Proton Transfer
1.1.
INTRODUCTION
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the genetic carrier in the living organisms. There are three main components of DNA: (1) purine (adenine, guanine) and pyrimidine (thymine, cytosine) bases, (2) deoxyribose sugar and (3) phosphate group. The hydrogen bonds between purine and pyrimidine bases forming a specific sequence are the key to genetic information and heredity. The first discovery that DNA is the genetic carrier was made by Avery et al. [1] in 1944. In 1953, three consecutive research papers were published in Nature that dealt with X-ray crystallography of DNA [2–4]. The work of Wilkins et al. [3] and that of Franklin and Gosling [4] based on X-ray crystallography of fibrous DNA demonstrated the helical nature of DNA while that of Watson and Crick [2] revealed the famous double helical structure of DNA involving the base pairings now called Watson-Crick (WC) base pairing. These and other vital studies relating to nature, structures and functions of genetic ∗
Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected]
1 M. K. Shukla, J. Leszczynski (eds.), Radiation Induced Molecular Phenomena in Nucleic Acids, 1–14. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008
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M. K. Shukla and J. Leszczynski
molecules have opened the new era of biological science called molecular biology. Unprecedented progress has been made in the ever spreading and diversifying area of molecular biology that has a close relationship with living systems. For example, both the Human Genome Project and the stem cell research offer very promising ways to deal with lethal diseases and in vivo growing of different tissues. However, they also come with a price tag in the form of potential for misuse against the human kind. In spite of these developments, the age old question as to what is life remains unanswered. What is the origin of life? Did it originate on the earth itself, was it a spontaneous process or was it transferred to earth from some other planet or other universe? A variety of simple molecules and organic species have been identified in meteorites and comets. For example, water, carbon mono and dioxides, formaldehyde, nitrogen, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide and methane have been
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