Question

Use the information in Table 11-1 to estimate the half-life, in years, of a phosphodiester bond in DNA.

Short answer

A phosphodiester bond has a half-life of 548,387 years.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of Half-Life period.

The half-life is the amount of time it takes for a quantity to decline to half its original value.

The phosphodiester bond in DNA is dissolved bydeoxyribonuclease enzymes.

Identification of the rate of reaction.

The enzyme Staphylococcal nuclease is sufficient to break the phosphodiester link. The Nonenzymatic Reaction Rate s^-1 of phosphodiester bond hydrolysis is$1.7\times {10}^{-13}$ as seen in the table.

Calculation of the half-life of phosphodiester bond.

As a result, one reaction takes$1.7\times {10}^{13}$seconds. A year is made up of$3.1\times {10}^7$.

Now, figure out how many years are$1.7\times {10}^{13}$seconds:

$\frac{1.7\times {10}^{13}}{3.1\times {10}^7}=548,387$years

Hence, a phosphodiester bond has a half-life of 548,387 years.