Quantum biology
Quantum biology refers to applications of quantum mechanics to biological objects and problems. Usually, it is taken to refer to applications of the "non-trivial" quantum features such as superposition, nonlocality, entanglement and tunneling, as opposed to the "trivial" applications such as chemical bonding which apply to biology only indirectly by dictating quantum chemistry.
Austrian born physicist and theoretical biologist Erwin Schrödinger was one of the first scientists to suggest a study of quantum biology in his 1944 book "What is Life?"
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Applications [edit]
Many biological processes involve the conversion of energy into forms that are usable for chemical transformations and are quantum mechanical in nature. Such processes involve chemical reactions, light absorption, formation of excited electronic states, transfer of excitation energy, and the transfer of electrons and protons (hydrogen ions) in chemical processes such as photosynthesis and cellular respiration.[1] Quantum biology uses computation to model biological interactions in light of quantum mechanical effects.[2]
Some examples of the biological phenomena that have been studied in terms of quantum processes are the absorbance of frequency-specific radiation (i.e., photosynthesis[3] and vision[4]); the conversion of chemical energy into motion;[5] magnetoreception in animals,[6][7] DNA mutation [8] and brownian motors in many cellular processes.[9]
Recent studies have identified quantum coherence and entanglement between the excited states of different pigments in the light-harvesting stage of photosynthesis.[10][11] Although this stage of photosynthesis is highly efficient, it remains unclear exactly how or if these quantum effects are relevant biologically.[12]
Notes [edit]
- ^ Quantum Biology. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group. http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/quantum_biology/
- ^ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070116133617.htm Science Daily Quantum Biology: Powerful Computer Models Reveal Key Biological Mechanism Retrieved Oct 14, 2007
- ^ Quantum Secrets of Photosynthesis Revealed
- ^ Garab, G. (1999). Photosynthesis: Mechanisms and Effects: Proceedings of the XIth International Congress on Photosynthesis. Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7923-5547-2.
- ^ Levine, Raphael D. (2005). Molecular Reaction Dynamics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 16–18. ISBN 978-0-521-84276-1.
- ^ Binhi, Vladimir N. (2002). Magnetobiology: Underlying Physical Problems. Academic Press. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-12-100071-4.
- ^ Erik M. Gauger, Elisabeth Rieper, John J. L. Morton, Simon C. Benjamin, Vlatko Vedral: Sustained quantum coherence and entanglement in the avian compass, Physics Review Letters, vol. 106, no. 4, 040503 (2011) (abstract, preprint)
- ^ Lowdin, P.O. (1965) Quantum genetics and the aperiodic solid. Some aspects on the Biological problems of heredity, mutations, aging and tumours in view of the quantum theory of the DNA molecule. Advances in Quantum Chemistry. Volume 2. pp213-360. Acedemic Press
- ^ Harald Krug; Harald Brune, Gunter Schmid, Ulrich Simon, Viola Vogel, Daniel Wyrwa, Holger Ernst, Armin Grunwald, Werner Grunwald, Heinrich Hofmann (2006). Nanotechnology: Assessment and Perspectives. Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K. pp. 197–240. ISBN 978-3-540-32819-3.
- ^ Sarovar, Mohan; Ishizaki, Akihito; Fleming, Graham R.; Whaley, K. Birgitta (2010). "Quantum entanglement in photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes". Nature Physics 6 (6): 462–467. arXiv:0905.3787. Bibcode:2010NatPh...6..462S. doi:10.1038/nphys1652.
- ^ Engel GS, Calhoun TR, Read EL, Ahn TK, Mancal T, Cheng YC et al. (2007). "Evidence for wavelike energy transfer through quantum coherence in photosynthetic systems.". Nature 446 (7137): 782–6. Bibcode:2007Natur.446..782E. doi:10.1038/nature05678. PMID 17429397.
- ^ Scholes GS (2010). "Quantum-Coherent Electronic Energy Transfer: Did Nature Think of It First?". Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 1: 2–8. doi:10.1021/jz900062f.
Further reading [edit]
- Derek Abbott, Julio Gea-Banacloche, Paul C. W. Davies, Stuart Hameroff, Anton Zeilinger, Jens Eisert, Howard M. Wiseman, Sergey M. Bezrukov, and Hans Frauenfelder, "Plenary debate: quantum effects in biology―trivial or not?" Fluctuation and Noise Letters, 8(1), pp. C5–C26, 2008.
- Philip Ball, "Physics of life: The dawn of quantum biology," Nature 474 (2011), 272-274.
- Bordonaro M, Ogryzko VV. "Quantum biology at the cellular level - Elements of the research program". Biosystems. 2013 112(1):11-30. [1]
- P.C.W. Davies, "Does quantum mechanics play a non-trivial role in life?" BioSystems, 78, pp. 69–79, 2004.
- P.C.W. Davies, "Quantum fluctuations and life", quant-ph/0403017, 2 March 2004
- Johnjoe McFadden and Jim Al-Khalili, "A quantum mechanical model of adaptive mutation" BioSystems 50 (1999), 203-211.
- Ogryzko VV. "Erwin Schroedinger, Francis Crick and epigenetic stability". Biol Direct. 3, pp. 15, 2008. http://www.biology-direct.com/content/3/1/15
- Erwin Schrödinger. What is Life?, Cambridge, 1944.
- M. Tegmark, "Why the brain is probably not a quantum computer," Information Sciences, 128, pp. 155–179, 2000.
External links [edit]
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Quantum Biology Workshop, September 2012, University of Surrey, UK - videos of plenary talks and interviews with participants
