  In this work, charge transport (CT) properties of the p53 gene are
numerically studied by the transfer matrix method, and using either single or
double strand effective tight-binding models. A statistical analysis of the
consequences of known p53 point mutations on CT features is performed. It is
found that in contrast to other kind of mutation defects, cancerous mutations
result in much weaker changes of CT efficiency. Given the envisioned role
played by CT in the DNA-repairing mechanism, our theoretical results suggest an
underlying physical explanation at the origin of carcinogenesis.
