Experimental exploration of terahertz waves promoting DNA double helix denaturation

Unwinding the double helix structures is the first step in biogenetics, which is crucial for the transmission of genetic information. DNA molecules have always been subjected to hydrolysis by heating or helicases. Recent simulation studies have shown that terahertz (THz) waves can promote the unfolding of DNA double helix at the molecular level. ^[1] Recent experiments have shown that ion channel permeability and neuronal signals have a special response to terahertz, suggesting that terahertz waves have active modularity. ^[2–4] Moreover, THz waves are effectively used to drive DNA origami components ^[5]. However, there is still a lack of experimental evidence directly proving that THz waves promote DNA spin. In our work, we applied the principle of fluorescence chain exchange analysis to demonstrate that THz waves with characteristic frequencies can promote the unwinding of DNA double helix at low temperatures. We also simulated the molecular vibration mechanism, and the results showed that terahertz waves with characteristic frequencies strongly resonate with specific molecules, which promotes the unwinding of DNA helices. Our research results have broad potential applications in THz technology in biological experiments, including high sensitivity detection and near physiological environment drug delivery.