Electron transport throughout the DNA base pair

We present here the results of a semiempirical nonequilibrium Green's function study of the electron transport properties of the adenine-thymine DNA base pair. Current-voltage dependence I(V), conductance spectrum G(V), and transmission coefficients are calculated. The influence of the hydrogen bonds on the resistance of the base pair is discussed. The obtained results are compared with the data for the benzene-1,4-dithiolate molecule. It is shown that although the overall conductance of the DNA base pair is much smaller than in the case of benzene-1,4-dithiolate it exhibits significant conductance at small voltage biases that gives a natural way to construct wires, switches, and diodes using the single DNA molecule. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.