How Quantum Solutions Are Being Used To Solve Biological Processes

Biology 1090 Section 017

How Quantum Solutions Are Being Used To Solve Biological Processes
Mark Hibbens
November 7, 2015

How Quantum Solutions Are Being Used To Solve Biological Processes

Introduction
Biology is the study of living organisms. Physics is the study of the properties of matter and
energy and how they interact. To say that biology fits into physics is somewhat of a misnomer, it
is more correct to say that physics fits into biology. Physics provides the foundation of biology,
without matter and energy, living organisms, and in turn, biology, would not exist. Biology
frequently uses physics to explain many things about biology.
Physics has often explained many aspects of biology including how birds are able to able to fly
and how a platypus uses electroreception and mechanoreception to locate its prey underwater.
On occasion, biology has also helped physics, most notably in helping physics discover the law of
conservation of energy.
Most people have a basic understanding of how flight or electroreception works, much of that is
now considered basic physics and has been understood for a long time now. Instead, this paper
will be a quick overview of new ways that physics is being invoked to explain portions of biology
that has until recently left physicists clueless about how it works. In order to do that, this paper
will be talking about quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics is the branch of physics that deals with the motion and interaction of
matter on the subatomic scale and has only recently been involved in explaining how life works
today. Even though it has only been employed for a couple of decades in biology, it has already
come up with intriguing explanations about how many biological processes work including bird
migration, smell, how photosynthesis achieves its high energy transfer rate and even gives
possible explanations of how some mutations can occur. These explanations are what we will be
talking about.
Discussion
It has been long known that migratory birds have been able to use the earths magnetic field to
navigate. This navigation is incredibly accurate allowing the birds to fly thousands of miles away
from home every year and return to not only the same region, but the exact same breeding spot.
While it has been known that they use the earths magnetic field, what physicists did not know
was how they are able to use the magnetic field with such accuracy or even what organ was
responsible in the detection of the differences in the magnetic field.
Quantum physics is able to explain this phenomenon by saying that the birds rely on a peculiar
phenomenon called quantum entanglement. Quantum entanglement is the ability of two
particles to share properties even when separated by vast distances. Basically in quantum
entanglement, when something happens to one particle, that particles entangled counterpart
feels the effects. Scientists believe that a protein inside the eye of birds called cryptochrome is
responsible for the birds ability to use quantum entanglement to navigate.
When green light passes into the eye of the bird, it hits the cryptochrome, which gives an energy
boost to one of the electrons of an entangled pair, thus separating it from its entangled partner
moving it to a new location. In its new location, the electron feels a slightly different magnitude
of the earths magnetic field, altering the electrons spin. The birds is able to use this information
to build a mental map of the earths magnetic field to figure out the position and direction of the
bird.
This theory that cryptochrome is used to navigation has support from recent experiments. One
experiment involves fruit flies, scientists were able to extract the cryptochrome from the flies,
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How Quantum Solutions Are Being Used To Solve Biological Processes

this results in the flied losing their magnetic sensitivity and becoming discombobulated in flight,
completely losing their ability to navigate.
Another area where quantum mechanics is helping explain biological traits is the sense of smell.
The predominant theory of how smell works was that particles of an odor would drift into the
nose where they would bind with receptors that identify them based on their shape. This
difference in shape would correspond to a different smell.
The problem with this theory is that scientists realized that more than one odor molecule can
have the exact same shape. Even with the same shape, these molecules would produce
completely different smells. One example of how molecules can have the same shape is when an
odor molecule used a different isotope of hydrogen consisting of one proton and one electron,
called protium, in place of another isotope of hydrogen that has one proton, neutron, and
electron, called deuterium. This gives the odor molecule the exact same size, shape, and charge
and can perfectly fit into the same receptor, yet will produce a distinctly different scent.
Quantum mechanics explains this because, while deuterium and protium are the same size,
deuteriums extra neutron means the new odor molecule will weigh slightly more. This increase
in weight causes the molecule to vibrate at a different frequency. It is this frequency that is
detected by the receptor causing it to tell the brain that it has a different smell.
Before we move further, it is important to understand a fundamental principle of quantum
mechanics called quantum superposition. Quantum superposition states that two or more
quantum states can be added together, or superposed, resulting in another valid quantum state.
In the macro world, this can be seen in waves. Two waves on the same frequency can be added
together to produce one bigger wave, or even cancel each other out, depending on how the
waves meet. Things are different in the quantum world. There, superposition can mean that an
atom can be in two places simultaneously, it even allows for an atom or quanta of light to take
more than one route to a destination at one time. As soon as you take a measurement however,
the atom will decide one what place it will be in or what route a particle is taking.
This idea sounds impossible to us because we cant see anything like it in the macro world.
Quantum superposition however, has been experimentally verified many times over and is
actually being utilized in an effort to improve our computers by using quantum bits, or qubits,
replace bits on current computers. In modern computers, bits can be either a 1 or a 0, in qubits,
they can be a 1, a 0, or a 1 and a 0 at the same time. This superposition of a 1 and a 0 allows
quantum computers to perform calculations much faster than current methods because the
quantum computer is able to calculate all options simultaneously instead of one at a time like in
current methods.
With a basic understanding of quantum superposition, we can now explore how it is involved
explaining biological processes, starting with photosynthesis, the process by which chlorophyll
molecules in plants converts water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight into energy, oxygen, and
carbohydrates.
Photosynthesis has an amazing 95% energy transfer rate, making it the most efficient energy
transfer process known to man. This degree of efficiency would not be possible without quantum
superposition.
In chlorophyll, antenna pigments guide energy from light-collecting molecules to nearby
reaction-center proteins along a choice of possible pathways. Originally, biologists thought that
the energy went from molecule to molecule along a single pathway. This however, would only
account for a roughly 50% efficiency rate, far short of the 95% it achieves. To explain the high
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How Quantum Solutions Are Being Used To Solve Biological Processes

efficiency rate, scientists believe that the energy must be in a superposition state, thus traveling
along all possible pathways at the same time. Once the quickest route is discovered, the energy
snaps out of the superposition state and onto this route allowing the energy to take the optimal
path each and every time.
Another area where quantum mechanics and superposition may play a role in biology is in
adaptive mutation, the idea that some mutations are much less random and more purposeful
than traditional evolution. While adaptive evolution is a controversial topic, examples of adaptive
evolution have been experimentally discovered. One of these examples occurred in 1988 when
biologists spread a strain of E. coli that could not digest lactose onto a petri dish with the only
food source being lactose. They discovered that the E. coli developed the mutation to digest
lactose much quicker and in higher amounts than would be expected if the mutation happened
at random.
The search for the answer to how this occurs led some scientists to the DNA strand. The double
helix of the DNA structure requires rungs of hydrogen bonds holding them together making the
DNA strand look like a twisted ladder. Each leg of the ladder is made up of a single hydrogen
atom holding the two ladder halves together. The hydrogen in these bonds tend to sit closer to
one side of the double helix than the other, and can be, through quantum superposition, closer
to both sides at the same time. From here scientists rely on a yet to be proven proposal stating
that DNA can mutate when hydrogen atoms in these bonds are closer to the wrong side of the
double helix.
For the E. coli in this experiment, this means that the DNA strands of the bacteria could be
mutated, enabling them to digest lactose, and non-mutated, no ability to digest lactose, at the
same time. In this hypothesis, the presence of the sugars in the lactose would then have the
effect of observing the hydrogen atom, making it choose one position ad stick with it. The
hydrogen atom would be stuck on the right side or the wrong side, mutated or non-mutated side.
If the hydrogen atom falls on the wrong side, the E. coli would mutate, enabling the bacteria to
consume lactose. This reaction explains how E. coli mutate at a much higher rate than when
relying on purely random mutation.
Conclusion
These are just some of the examples of how quantum mechanics is able to help biologists in
explaining various biological processes. While quantum biology is still in its infancy and many of
these ideas are not yet fully accepted by the scientific community, quantum mechanics has been
able to provide theories for phenomena that did not previously have a working theory and has
also been able to provide much better theories that ones that were currently being utilized, thus
providing answers to different problems in biology. While some of these have yet to be studied
extensively, it is gaining more and more supporters and attracting more and more scientists to
this emerging field in an attempt to solve many more of lifes most puzzling questions.
As this field moves from its infancy, quantum mechanics promises to not only answer many of
biologys mysteries, it also promises to help improve current technologies. One technology that it
is already helping improve is solar technology. With our better understanding of photosynthesis,
we have been able to improve the solar efficiency of our solar power. Through a better
understanding, we can use this to relieve ourselves from our current fossil fuel dependence
providing a cleaner and more efficient life for all the inhabitants of this planet.

How Quantum Solutions Are Being Used To Solve Biological Processes

References
Ball, Philip. "Physics of Life: The Dawn of Quantum Biology." Nature.com. Nature Publishing
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June 2011. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
Donald, Athene. "Where Physics Meets Biology." The Guardian. 17 Aug. 2012. Web. 3 Oct. 2015.
Matthew, Cobb. "Are We Ready for Quantum Biology?" New Scientist. 12 Nov. 2014. Web. 8 Oct.
2015.
Merali, Zeeya. "Solving Biology's Mysteries Using Quantum Mechanics." Discover Magazine. 29
Dec.
2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
"You're Powered by Quantum Mechanics. No, Really..." The Guardian. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.