Quantum Effects In Biology

Explores the role of quantum mechanics in biology for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in physics, biology and chemistry.

This book presents the hotly debated question of whether quantum mechanics plays a non-trivial role in biology. In a timely way, it sets out a distinct quantum biology agenda. The burgeoning fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, quantum technology, and quantum information processing are now strongly converging. The acronym BINS, for Bio-Info-Nano-Systems, has been coined to describe the synergetic interface of these several disciplines. The living cell is an information replicating and processing system that is replete with naturally-evolved nanomachines, which at some level require a quantum mechanical description. As quantum engineering and nanotechnology meet, increasing use will be made of biological structures, or hybrids of biological and fabricated systems, for producing novel devices for information storage and processing and other tasks. An understanding of these systems at a quantum mechanical level will be indispensable. Contents:Foreword (Sir R Penrose)Emergence and Complexity:A Quantum Origin of Life? (P C W Davies)Quantum Mechanics and Emergence (S Lloyd)Quantum Mechanisms in Biology:Quantum Coherence and the Search for the First Replicator (J Al-Khalili & J McFadden)Ultrafast Quantum Dynamics in Photosynthesis (A O Castro, F F Olsen, C F Lee & N F Johnson)Modelling Quantum Decoherence in Biomolecules (J Bothma, J Gilmore & R H McKenzie)The Biological Evidence:Molecular Evolution: A Role for Quantum Mechanics in the Dynamics of Molecular Machines that Read and Write DNA (A Goel)Memory Depends on the Cytoskeleton, but is it Quantum? (A Mershin & D V Nanopoulos)Quantum Metabolism and Allometric Scaling Relations in Biology (L Demetrius)Spectroscopy of the Genetic Code (J D Bashford & P D Jarvis)Towards Understanding the Origin of Genetic Languages (A D Patel)Artificial Quantum Life:Can Arbitrary Quantum Systems Undergo Self-Replication? (A K Pati & S L Braunstein)A Semi-Quantum Version of the Game of Life (A P Flitney & D Abbott)Evolutionary Stability in Quantum Games (A Iqbal & T Cheon)Quantum Transmemetic Intelligence (E W Piotrowski & J S≈adkowski)The Debate:Dreams versus Reality: Plenary Debate Session on Quantum Computing (For Panel: C M Caves, D Lidar, H Brandt, A R Hamilton, Against Panel: D K Ferry, J Gea-Banacloche, S M Bezrukov, L B Kish, Debate Chair: C R Doering, Transcript Editor: D Abbott)Plenary Debate: Quantum Effects in Biology: Trivial or Not? (For Panel: P C W Davies, S Hameroff, A Zeilinger, D Abbott, Against Panel: J Eisert, H M Wiseman, S M Bezrukov, H Frauenfelder, Debate Chair: J Gea-Banacloche, Transcript Editor: D Abbott)Nontrivial Quantum Effects in Biology: A Skeptical Physicist's View (H Wiseman & J Eisert)That's Life! — The Geometry of π Electron Clouds (S Hameroff) Readership: Graduate students and researchers in quantum physics, biophysics, nanosciences, quantum chemistry, mathematical biology and complexity theory, as well as philosophers of science. Keywords:Quantum Biology;Quantum Computation;Quantum Mechanics;Biophysics;Nanotechnology;Quantum Technology;Quantum Information Processing;Bio-Info-Nano-Systems (BINS);Emergence;Complexity;Complex Systems;Cellular Automata;Game Theory;Biomolecules;Photosynthesis;DNA;Genetic Code;DecoherenceKey Features:Is structured in a debate style, where contributors argue opposing positionsBrings together some of the finest minds and latest developments in the fieldIs entirely unique and there are no competing titles

New York Times bestseller • Life on the Edge alters our understanding of our world's fundamental dynamics through the use of quantum mechanics. Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation? Using first-hand experience at the cutting edge of science, Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe Macfadden reveal that missing ingredient to be quantum mechanics. Drawing on recent ground-breaking experiments around the world, each chapter in Life on the Edge illustrates one of life's puzzles: How do migrating birds know where to go? How do we really smell the scent of a rose? How do our genes copy themselves with such precision? Life on the Edge accessibly reveals how quantum mechanics can answer these probing questions of the universe. Guiding the reader through the rapidly unfolding discoveries of the last few years, Al-Khalili and McFadden describe the explosive new field of quantum biology and its potentially revolutionary applications, while offering insights into the biggest puzzle of all: what is life? As they brilliantly demonstrate in these groundbreaking pages, life exists on the quantum edge. Winner, Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication

Quantum concepts hold the potential to enable significant advances in sensing and imaging technologies that could be vital to the study of biological systems. The workshop Quantum Science Concepts in Enhancing Sensing and Imaging Technologies: Applications for Biology, held online March 8-10, 2021, was organized to examine the research and development needs to advance biological applications of quantum technology. Hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the event brought together experts working on state-of-the-art, quantum-enabled technologies and scientists who are interested in applying these technologies to biological systems. Through talks, panels, and discussions, the workshop facilitated a better understanding of the current and future biological applications of quantum-enabled technologies in fields such as microbiology, molecular biology, cell biology, plant science, mycology, and many others. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.

This book is a self-contained, tutorial-based introduction to quantum information theory and quantum biology. It serves as a single-source reference to the topic for researchers in bioengineering, communications engineering, electrical engineering, applied mathematics, biology, computer science, and physics. The book provides all the essential principles of the quantum biological information theory required to describe the quantum information transfer from DNA to proteins, the sources of genetic noise and genetic errors as well as their effects. Integrates quantum information and quantum biology concepts; Assumes only knowledge of basic concepts of vector algebra at undergraduate level; Provides a thorough introduction to basic concepts of quantum information processing, quantum information theory, and quantum biology; Includes in-depth discussion of the quantum biological channel modelling, quantum biological channel capacity calculation, quantum models of aging, quantum models of evolution, quantum models on tumor and cancer development, quantum modeling of bird navigation compass, quantum aspects of photosynthesis, quantum biological error correction.

In recent years, there has been an explosion in knowledge and research associated with the field of enzyme catalysis and H-tunneling. Rich in its breath and depth, this introduction to modern theories and methods of study is suitable for experienced researchers those new to the subject. Edited by two leading experts, and bringing together the foremost practitioners in the field, this up-to-date account of a rapidly developing field sits at the interface between biology, chemistry and physics. It covers computational, kinetic and structural analysis of tunnelling and the synergy in combining these methods (with a major focus on H-tunneling reactions in enzyme systems). The book starts with a brief overview of proton and electron transfer history by Nobel Laureate, Rudolph A. Marcus. The reader is then guided through chapters covering almost every aspect of reactions in enzyme catalysis ranging from descriptions of the relevant quantum theory and quantum/classical theoretical methodology to the description of experimental results. The theoretical interpretation of these large systems includes both quantum mechanical and statistical mechanical computations, as well as simple more approximate models. Most of the chapters focus on enzymatic catalysis of hydride, proton and H" transfer, an example of the latter being proton coupled electron transfer. There is also a chapter on electron transfer in proteins. This is timely since the theoretical framework developed fifty years ago for treating electron transfers has now been adapted to H-transfers and electron transfers in proteins. Accessible in style, this book is suitable for a wide audience but will be particularly useful to advanced level undergraduates, postgraduates and early postdoctoral workers.

This book intends to give a systematic exposition of the validity of quantum principles in biological systems. There are two types of applications of quantum theory in physical systems -- the 'trivial applications' and 'non-trivial applications'. Since every object in this universe consists of atoms and molecules, they should be described by the laws of quantum theory -- which we call trivial applications. On the other hand, there exist some systems where the observational results cannot be explained by the laws of classical physics and this requires a change of paradigm -- these are known as non-trivial applications. Many authors pointed out such non-trivial applications of quantum theory to explain how some biological systems function. In this book, we review such kinds of results in a systematic manner which clearly indicates the need to change the paradigm to understand these biological systems better.

This book reviews the most significant advances in concepts, methods, and applications of quantum systems in a broad variety of problems in modern chemistry, physics, and biology. In particular, it discusses atomic, molecular, and solid structure, dynamics and spectroscopy, relativistic and correlation effects in quantum chemistry, topics of computational chemistry, physics and biology, as well as applications of theoretical chemistry and physics in advanced molecular and nano-materials and biochemical systems. The book contains peer-reviewed contributions written by leading experts in the fields and based on the presentations given at the Twenty-Fourth International Workshop on Quantum Systems in Chemistry, Physics, and Biology held in Odessa, Ukraine, in August 2019. This book is aimed at advanced graduate students, academics, and researchers, both in university and corporation laboratories, interested in state-of-the-art and novel trends in quantum chemistry, physics, biology, and their applications.