  Charge diffusion through desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a physico-chemical
phenomenon that on the one hand is being explored for technological purposes,
on the other hand is applied by nature for various informational processes in
life. With regard to the latter, increasing experimental and theoretical
evidence indicates that charge diffusion through DNA is involved in basic steps
of DNA replication and repair, as well as regulation of gene expression via
epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation or DNA binding of proteins. From
the physics point of view, DNA supports a metallic-like behavior with
long-range charge mobility. Nevertheless, particularly considering a living
environment, charge mobility in DNA needs to take into account omnipresent
noise and disorder. Here, we analyze quantum diffusion of single charges along
DNA-inspired two-dimensional tight-binding lattices in presence of different
sources of intrinsic and environmental fluctuations. It is shown that
double-strand lattices, parametrized according to atomistic calculations of DNA
sequences, offer a complex network of pathways between sites and may give rise
to long-distance coherence phenomena. These effects strongly depend on carrier
type (electrons, holes), the energetic profile of the lattice (composition) as
well as the type of noise and disorder. Of particular interest are spatially
correlated low-frequency fluctuations which may support coherent charge
transfer over distances of a few sites. Our results may trigger further
experimental activities aiming at investigating charge mobility in DNA both in
the native in-vivo context as well as on artificial platforms.
