Abstract
There have been many claims that quantum mechanics plays a key role in the origin and/or operation of biological organisms, beyond merely providing the basis for the shapes and sizes of biological molecules and their chemical affinities. These range from Schrödinger's suggestion that quantum fluctuations produce mutations, to Hameroff and Penrose's conjecture that quantum coherence in microtubules is linked to consciousness. I review some of these claims in this paper, and discuss the serious problem of decoherence. I advance some further conjectures about quantum information processing in bio-systems. Some possible experiments are suggested.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
| Editors | P. Heszler, D. Abbott, J.R. Gea-Banacloche, P.R. Hemmer |
| Volume | 5468 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2004 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | Fluctuations and Noise in Photonics and Quantum Optics II - Maspalomas Duration: May 26 2004 → May 28 2004 |
Other
| Other | Fluctuations and Noise in Photonics and Quantum Optics II |
|---|---|
| City | Maspalomas |
| Period | 5/26/04 → 5/28/04 |
Keywords
- Biophysics
- Decoherence
- Molecular biology
- Quantum computing
- Quantum information
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Condensed Matter Physics