Quantum biology
Neill Lambert, Yueh-Nan Chen, Yuan-Chung Cheng, Che-Ming Li, Guang-Yin Chen & Franco Nori
AffiliationsCorresponding authors
Nature Physics 9, 10–18 (2013) doi:10.1038/nphys2474
Received 01 July 2012 Accepted 04 October 2012 Published online 09 December 2012
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Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that a variety of organisms may harness some of the unique features of quantum mechanics to gain a biological advantage. These features go beyond trivial quantum effects and may include harnessing quantum coherence on physiologically important timescales. In this brief review we summarize the latest results for non-trivial quantum effects in photosynthetic light harvesting, avian magnetoreception and several other candidates for functional quantum biology. We present both the evidence for and arguments against there being a functional role for quantum coherence in these systems.
Subject terms: Biological physics Quantum physics
