The motivation for the second article discussing DNA and arrow of time was the question whether there could be a longitudinal electric field associated with DNA and whether the reduction of its strength could serve as a bioelectric marker of cancer, aging and death. This could be the case if the length of DNA correlates with the strength of this electric field. The natural question is whether the length of the negatively charged sticky end of DNA could determine the strength of this electric field.
Could DNA be a ferroelectret and could the length of sticky ends control the strength of the longitudinal electric field?
DNAs and RNAs are bioelectrets (see this and this) but the question whether they are bioferroelectrets (see this) possessing a constant longitudinal electric field in the absence of external electric field is an open question.
Telomeres are associated with the ends of DNA double strands. The lengths of telomeres (see this) are controlled by the telomerase enzyme. The shortening of telomeres is known to relate to aging. For cancer cells, germ cells and stem cells the length of the telomeres is not varying. In cancer their lengths are abnormally short. Telomeres could act as buffers shielding the part of DNA coding for proteins. Telomeres have "sticky ends" assignable only to the second DNA strand and carrying negative charge. What their function could be? Could telomere lengths correlate with the lengths of the sticky ends and what could control their lengths?
There is an analogy with microtubules, which are highly dynamical and carry a longitudinal electric field, whose strength correlates with the microtubule length. Could the sticky ends (see this) generate a longitudinal field along DNA double strand with strength determined by the lengths of the sticky ends? In the standard picture the flux of the longitudinal electric field would be proportional to the difference of the negative charges associated with the sticky ends. In a conceptual framework based on Topological Geometrodynamics (TGD), which is a proposal for a unification of fundamental interactions inspiring a vision about consciousness and quantum biology, DNA strands are accompanied by the dark analog of DNA with codons realized as 3-proton units neutralizing the negative charge of ordinary DNA except at sticky ends.
If the dark double strand accompanies also the sticky end, the total charge is positive. If not, it is negative. This allows to consider the possibility that opposite sticky ends have opposite charges so that there is a long dipole like entity carrying longitudinal electric flux proportional to the common length of sticky ends.
Experimental signatures
Also in standard physics based picture (no dark DNA), an external electric field created by the polarization of the nucleotides A, T, C, G in an external electric field is possible (see this). This would mean electrect property, not yet ferroelectricity. The model for the phenomenon suggests that ferro-electricity could result in the sense that the polarization is non-vanishing also in absence of the external electric field so that the nucleotide -rather than entire DNA strand - would be an electric analog of ferromagnet.
In this case the behavior in the external electric field is different from that for ferroelectric DNA double strand: DNA double strand itself would not experience a direct torque in the external electric field. The effective polarization per nucleotide predicted by TGD is at least by a factor 2.5-7.5 stronger than standard model polarizations so that the model can be tested. Furthermore, ferroelectricity of DNA in TGD sense requires DNA double strands and would be present for single DNA strand.
The secod testable prediction is the possibility of currents running along DNA double strand in the longitudinal electric field even without external electric field. External field would however add to the ferroelectric field of oriented DNA double strands and lead to an anomalously high conductivity. Another test would be based on the ferroelectret property of living tissues, which could be caused both by DNA and protein ferro-electricity. Living tissues are indeed known that be ferroelectres as the phenomena of pyroelectricity, piezoelectrity (studied first by Ahlenstaedt (see this) and the polarization in an external electric field demonstrate. Ahlenstaedt proposed that the permanent dipole like character (ferroelectricity) of the linear biomolecules gives rise to their bioferroelectricity.
Connection with consciousness
An analogy with the findings of Becker about the electric fields along the body axis emerges. Becker found that the direction of this field determines whether the organism is awake or in a sleep state. The weakening of these fields leads to aloss of consciousness. TGD inspired theory of consciousness predicts that even sysems like DNA can be conscious and the fractality of TGD Universe suggests that the physical correlates of consciousness are same in all scales.
Could the direction and strength of the electric field of DNA correlate with consciousness at this level? In TGD based quantum measurement theory extending to a theory of consciousness the arrow of time changes in "big" state function reductions (BSFRs), which mean "death" and "reincarnation" with opposite arrow of time (see this). By the tensorial properies of electromagnetic field tensor the arrow of time correlates also with the direction of the electric field. This leads to ask whether the change of the arrow of time in BSFR could change the direction of the DNA's bioelectric field, and one ends up with a simple mechanism for this based on the analog of Becker's DC currents along DNA as proton currents.
Telomore length, cancer, and DNA ferroelectricity
Compelling evidence suggest that there is an inverse relationship between telomere length and both different types of cancer incidence and mortality (references in article) suggesting that the control of telomere length by telomerase enzyme is impaired (references in article). Almost in all cancer cells, telomere length is shortened (references in article). Telomere shortening accompanies ageing (references in article)e. Even in stem cells, except for embryonic stem cells and cancer stem cells, there are overwhelming evidence that telomere shortening occurs during replicative ageing, though at a lower rate than that in normal somatic cells (references in article).
In this picture, the simplest possibility is that telomeres act as buffers, and the strength of the longitudinal electric field controlled by the length of sticky ends controls the length of telomeres and thus of DNA. Sticky ends would be the key control knobs used by telomerase enzyme, and magnetic body (MB) of the system would be the ultimate controller.
Apart from some exceptions, telomere length in DNA is shortened in almost all cell types during aging and some diseases, based on the level of telomerase activity or its absence. Ageing could be purposefully induced since eternal life would be a metabolic catastrophe from the perspective of population overgrowth and evolution (reference in article).
This motivated us to propose the hypothesis that DNA bioelectricity changes over time and depends on disease progression and severity. This provides an excellent opportunity to establish novel predictive, prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers differentially in different cell types or as a combined bioelectric marker for "whole-body" as a derivation of mathematical formulations. This hypothesis is necessary for designing tailor-made microelectrochemical impedance spectroscopy technologies, and consequently, pilot studies designed a priori are needed to test our hypothesis. Along with replication of well-designed pilot study with a more diverse population and larger sample size, it will be needed to address questions about cut-offs or personalized normal ranges for differential and mean whole-body DNA's bioelectric field in a longitudinal study in a prospective manner. With this brief background, the aim of this paper is to suggest DNA's bioelectric field as a novel bioelectric marker to be used for prognostic and diagnostic purposes in researches of cancer, aging, surgery grafts and rejuvenation, for the first time.
See the article DNA's bioelectric field an early bioelectric marker of cancer aging and death: a working hypothesis.
For a summary of earlier postings see Latest progress in TGD.
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