Watering down a theory Comment on 'Fluctuations in the DNA double helix: A critical review' by Frank-Kamenetskii & Prakash

摘要

A spectre is haunting DNA physics - the spectre of oscillations. A large part of the physics community is analyzing the dynamic behavior of DNA with an intriguingly simple coarse-grained model, originally introduced in 1989 by Peyrard and Bishop [1], and augmented with non-linear stacking terms by Dauxois, Peyrard and Bishop in 1993 [2]. This "PBD" model describes the DNA double helix as a kind of twisted Jacob's ladder with elastic steps and rails. One of its advantages, and the reason for its popularity, is that its properties can be analytically explored. In their review [3], Frank-Kamenetskii and Prakash discuss the PBD model extensively and make a strong argument for its dismissal.