How the surrounding water changes the electronic and magnetic properties of DNA

We study the influence of humidity on the transport and magnetic properties of DNA within the quantum chemistry methods. Strong influence of water molecules on these properties, observed in this study, opens up opportunities for application of DNA in molecular electronics. Interaction of the nucleobases with water molecules leads to breaking of some of the pi bonds and appearance of unbound pi electrons. These unbound electrons contribute significantly to the charge transfer at room temperature by up to 10(3) times, but at low temperature the efficiency of charge transfer is determined by the spin interaction of two unbound electrons located on the intrastrand nucleobases. The charge exchange between the nucleobases is allowed only when the spins of unbound electrons are antiparallel. Therefore, the conductance of DNA molecule can be controlled by a magnetic field. That effect has potentials for applications in developing nanoscale spintronic devices based on the DNA molecule, where efficiency of spin interaction will be determined by the DNA sequence.