In Chapter 5, DNA is a kind of nucleic acid consisting of two strands which are
made up of two Watson-Crick base pairs: adenine-thymine (AT) and guanine-cytosine (GC). Vitrification (from Latin vitreum, "glass") on the other hand is the transformation of a
substance into a glass. DNA vitrification is achieved by rapidly cooling DNA in a liquid state
through the glass transition. The quantum fluctuation in terms of random displacement and
specific heat capacity of the π electrons in hydrogen bonds was studied earlier to calculate the
DNA melting temperature. Same principles along with the inclusion of longitudinal
phonon vibrations will be used here in order to calculate the vitrification temperature (glass
transition temperature) of base pairs. This has an important application in cryonics and
cryopreservation.
Keywords: Biological physics, Statistical physics
