LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Unzipping DNAs: towards the first step of replication

Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd
, , Citation Somendra M Bhattacharjee 2000 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 33 L423 DOI 10.1088/0305-4470/33/45/101

Download Article PDF

This article is corrected by 2000 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 33 9003

Article metrics

498 Total downloads

Share this article

Author affiliations

1 Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar 751 005, India

Dates

  1. Received 21 July 2000

Buy this article in print

0305-4470/33/45/L423

Abstract

It is shown that a double-stranded DNA can be opened by a force only if the force exceeds a critical value, and this unzipping is a critical phenomenon. From the results of an equivalent delocalization in a non-hermitian quantum mechanics problem we show the different scaling behaviours of unzipping by force and thermal melting. Based on this we make a postulate on the first step of replication of DNA.

Export citation and abstract BibTeX RIS

Next article in issue
10.1088/0305-4470/33/45/101