''Quantum Aspects of Life'', a book published in 2008 with a foreword by

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus f ...

, explores the open question of the role of

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

at molecular scales of relevance to biology. The book contains chapters written by various world-experts from a 2003 symposium and includes two debates from 2003 to 2004; giving rise to a mix of both sceptical and sympathetic viewpoints. The book addresses questions of

quantum physics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, qua ...

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

nanoscience The nanoscopic scale (or nanoscale) usually refers to structures with a length scale applicable to nanotechnology, usually cited as 1–100 nanometers (nm). A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. The nanoscopic scale is (roughly speaking) a lo ...

quantum chemistry Quantum chemistry, also called molecular quantum mechanics, is a branch of physical chemistry focused on the application of quantum mechanics to chemical systems, particularly towards the quantum-mechanical calculation of electronic contributions ...

mathematical biology Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of the living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, development a ...

, complexity theory, and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

that are inspired by the 1944 seminal book ''

What Is Life? ''What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell'' is a 1944 science book written for the lay reader by physicist Erwin Schrödinger. The book was based on a course of public lectures delivered by Schrödinger in February 1943, under the ...

'' by

Erwin Schrödinger Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger (, ; ; 12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), sometimes written as or , was a Nobel Prize-winning Austrian physicist with Irish citizenship who developed a number of fundamental results in quantum theo ...

* Foreword by

Section 1: ''Emergence and Complexity'' * Chapter 1: "A Quantum Origin of Life?" by Paul C. W. Davies * Chapter 2: "

Quantum Mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

and Emergence" by

Seth Lloyd Seth Lloyd (born August 2, 1960) is a professor of mechanical engineering and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research area is the interplay of information with complex systems, especially quantum systems. He has perform ...

Section 2: ''Quantum Mechanisms in Biology'' * Chapter 3: "Quantum Coherence and the Search for the First Replicator" by

Jim Al-Khalili Jameel Sadik "Jim" Al-Khalili ( ar, جميل صادق الخليلي; born 20 September 1962) is an Iraqi-British theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He is professor of theoretical physics and chair in the public engagement in scie ...

and Johnjoe McFadden * Chapter 4: "Ultrafast Quantum Dynamics in Photosynthesis" by Alexandra Olaya-Castro, Francesca Fassioli Olsen, Chiu Fan Lee, and Neil F. Johnson * Chapter 5: "Modeling Quantum Decoherence in

Biomolecules A biomolecule or biological molecule is a loosely used term for molecules present in organisms that are essential to one or more typically biological processes, such as cell division, morphogenesis, or development. Biomolecules include lar ...

" by Jacques Bothma, Joel Gilmore, and Ross H. McKenzie Section 3: ''The Biological Evidence'' * Chapter 6: "Molecular Evolution: A Role for Quantum Mechanics in the Dynamics of Molecular Machines that Read and Write DNA" by

Anita Goel Anita Goel is an American physicist, physician, and scientist in the emerging field of Nanobiophysics. At the Nanobiosym Research Institute (NBS), Goel examines the physics of life and the way nanomotors read and write information into DNA. E ...

* Chapter 7: "Memory Depends on the

Cytoskeleton The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all cells, including those of bacteria and archaea. In eukaryotes, it extends from the cell nucleus to the cell membrane and is co ...

, but is it Quantum?" by Andreas Mershin and Dimitri V. Nanopoulos * Chapter 8: "Quantum Metabolism and Allometric Scaling Relations in Biology" by Lloyd Demetrius * Chapter 9: "Spectroscopy of the Genetic Code" by Jim D. Bashford and Peter D. Jarvis * Chapter 10: "Towards Understanding the Origin of Genetic Languages" by Apoorva D. Patel Section 4: ''Artificial Quantum Life'' * Chapter 11: "Can Arbitrary Quantum Systems Undergo Self-Replication?" by Arun K. Pati and Samuel L. Braunstein * Chapter 12: "A Semi-Quantum Version of the Game of Life" by Adrian P. Flitney and Derek Abbott * Chapter 13: "Evolutionary Stability in Quantum Games" by Azhar Iqbal and Taksu Cheon * Chapter 14: "Quantum Transmemetic Intelligence" by Edward W. Piotrowski and

Jan Sładkowski Jan Sładkowski (born 1958 in Świętochłowice) is a Polish physicist. He is notable for his work on the role of exotic smoothness in cosmology, quantum game theory, and applications of thermodynamics in the theory of finance. Education He ea ...

Section 5: ''The Debate'' * Chapter 15: "Dreams versus Reality: Plenary Debate Session on Quantum Computing" ''For panel:''

Carlton M. Caves Carlton Morris Caves is an American theoretical physicist. He is currently Professor Emeritus and Research Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico. Caves works in the areas of physics of information; information, entr ...

Daniel Lidar Daniel Amihud Lidar is the holder of the Viterbi Professorship of Engineering at the University of Southern California, where he is a Professor of Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, Physics & Astronomy. He is the Director and co-founder of the U ...

, Howard Brandt, Alexander R. Hamilton; ''Against panel:'' David K. Ferry, Julio Gea-Banacloche, Sergey M. Bezrukov, Laszlo B. Kish; ''Debate chair:'' Charles R. Doering; ''Transcript Editor:'' Derek Abbott. * Chapter 16: "Plenary Debate: Quantum Effects in Biology: Trivial or Not?" ''For panel:'' Paul C. W. Davies, Stuart Hameroff,

Anton Zeilinger Anton Zeilinger (; born 20 May 1945) is an Austrian quantum physicist and Nobel laureate in physics of 2022. Zeilinger is professor of physics emeritus at the University of Vienna and senior scientist at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Qu ...

, Derek Abbott; ''Against panel:''

Jens Eisert Jens Eisert, born 9 October 1970, is a German physicist, ERC fellow, and professor at the Free University of Berlin. He is known for his research in quantum information science and quantum many-body theory in condensed matter physics. He has ma ...

, Howard M. Wiseman, Sergey M. Bezrukov, Hans Frauenfelder; ''Debate chair:'' Julio Gea-Banacloche; ''Transcript Editor:'' Derek Abbott. * Chapter 17: "Non-trivial Quantum Effects in Biology: A Skeptical Physicist’s View" Howard M. Wiseman and

* Chapter 18: "That’s Life! — The Geometry of Electron Clouds" Stuart Hameroff

References

* * * {{cite journal , last1=Rinaldi , first1=Andrea , title=When life gets physical: Quantum effects in selected biological systems have been confirmed experimentally, but how widespread is their role remains unclear , journal=EMBO Reports , date=January 2012 , volume=13 , issue=1 , pages=24–27 , doi=10.1038/embor.2011.236 , pmid=22173031 , pmc=3246260

External links

Book's homepage at ICP
2008 non-fiction books Biology books Biophysics Mathematical and theoretical biology Popular physics books Quantum biology Books by Paul Davies

Contents

See also

References

External links