New Hot Paper Comment by Ahmed H. Zewail

Ahmed H. Zewail answers a few questions about this month's new hot paper in the field of Chemistry.

From •>>March 2003

Field: Chemistry
Article Title: "Femtosecond direct observation of charge transfer between bases in DNA"
Authors: Wan, CZ;Fiebig, T;Schiemann, O;Barton, JK;Zewail, AH
Journal: PROC NAT ACAD SCI USA
Volume: 97
Page: 14052-14055
Year: DEC 19 2000
* CALTECH, Arthur Amos Noyes Lab Chem Phys, Lab Mol Sci, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA.
* CALTECH, Arthur Amos Noyes Lab Chem Phys, Lab Mol Sci, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA.

Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

It addresses an important question for an old problem.

Does it describe a new discovery or a new methodology that's useful to others?

It provided the methodology for direct study of the phenomena involved.

Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

The issue here is: what happens to the genetic material when electrons move in DNA and how do they move?

How did you become involved in this research?

The NSF Laboratory of Molecular Science at Caltech provided the milieu for collaboration between Professor Jacqueline K. Barton's group and our group led by the efforts of two research associates Dr. Chaozhi Wan and Dr. Torsten Fiebig.

Read comments from Ahmed H. Zewail in Fast Breaking Papers from the month of February 2003.

Ahmed H. Zewail
Linus Pauling Chair
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Director, Laboratory for Molecular Sciences
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
USA

ESI Special Topics, March 2003
Citing URL - http://www.esi-topics.com/nhp/2003/march-03-AhmedZewail.html