Dr Roisin Guthrie
Academic and research departments
Leverhulme Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Centre (QB-DTC), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences.About
My research project
Multiscale investigation on the quantum effects of photo-induced induced DNA repairAn excited electron introduced into a pyrimidine dimer, formed in DNA between two pyrimidine bases after UV damage, can induce repair. This electron can be donated by photoinduced processes involving the surrounding nucleotide sequence, deoxyribozymes or photolyase. Our focus will be the repair of the Cyclobuthane thymine dimer and modelling applying multiscale quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods. Roisin will start by attempting to find computational proof of the mechanism proposed by Bucher et al. [1], which shows how electron transfer across guanine and adenine to the dimer after UVC excitation can lead to dimer repair. In the long- term we will model other methods of photo-induced DNA repair after electron transfer, from a surrounding damaged nucleotide [2] or the FAD co-factor of photolyase.
Supervisors
An excited electron introduced into a pyrimidine dimer, formed in DNA between two pyrimidine bases after UV damage, can induce repair. This electron can be donated by photoinduced processes involving the surrounding nucleotide sequence, deoxyribozymes or photolyase. Our focus will be the repair of the Cyclobuthane thymine dimer and modelling applying multiscale quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods. Roisin will start by attempting to find computational proof of the mechanism proposed by Bucher et al. [1], which shows how electron transfer across guanine and adenine to the dimer after UVC excitation can lead to dimer repair. In the long- term we will model other methods of photo-induced DNA repair after electron transfer, from a surrounding damaged nucleotide [2] or the FAD co-factor of photolyase.