Novel Biomaterial for NCT—“Rigid” Particles of (DNA-Gadolinium) Liquid-Crystalline Dispersions

The formation and physico-chemical properties of biomaterial, based on double-stranded (ds) DNA molecules and bearing high concentration of gadolinium, is described. This “rigid” biomaterial demonstrate a few unique properties: 1) the ds DNA molecules forming complexes with gadolinium are fixed in the spatial structure of “rigid” particles, 2) an abnormal negative band in the circular dichroism spectrum permits to follow the formation of this biomaterial; 3) local concentration gadolinium in the content of biomaterial can reach 40%. These properties show that we are dealing with a novel type of biomaterial strongly enriched by gadolinium. This opens a gateway for practical application of this biomaterial for neutron-capture reactions. A first attempt to apply this material for neutron-capture reaction in combination with neutron generator of thermal neutron flux was performed. Positive result obtained at destruction of CHO cells allows one to state that the advantages of this biomaterial are a simple manipulation with it, a possibility to adjust its gadolinium content, long-term stability of its physico-chemical properties, as well as a reduced cost of neutroncapture experiment.