A molecular “microphone” has been developed to “repair” DNA and fight cancer

Scientists from the Knorre Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine SB RAS and the Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry named after Vorozhtsov SB RAS have developed a molecular “microphone”. It can be used to “repair” damaged DNA, and also help in the fight against cancer, writes Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

“Our colleagues synthesized a spin tag that is sensitive to the acidity of the environment, and we sewed it to the DNA right next to the site of damage. The result is a kind of molecular “microphone” that literally transmits a signal from the center of events: changing the charges near the mark changes its response to pH,” said Academician Dmitry Zharkov, head of the laboratory of genomic and protein engineering at the Institute of Chemical Biological Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, about the development.