Science AMA Series: We are Johnjoe McFadden and Jim Al-Khalili,
professors of biology and physics respectively at the University of
Surrey in the UK and joint authors of ‘Life on the Edge’. We are here
Abstract
We got interested in the idea that quantum mechanics is involved in
biology nearly two decades ago when Johnjoe was puzzling over weird kind
of mutations that seemed to become more frequent when they provided an
advantage to bacteria, and teamed up with Jim to see if quantum
mechanics might provide an explanation. We wrote a paper describing a
quantum model for the mutations back in 1999
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303264799000040) and
have since maintained an interest in all aspects of quantum biology. The
field exploded about a decade ago when microbes and plants were shown to
use quantum coherence in photosynthesis and enzymes were found to use
quantum tunnelling to accelerate biochemical reactions. Evidence for
quantum effects has since turned up in avian navigation, the sense of
smell, even how the mind works. We believe that biology’s connection to
the quantum realm provides life with the spark that makes us so
different from the inanimate world. To describe this fascinating new
field we recently teamed up again to write, ‘Life on the Edge: The
Coming of Age of Quantum Biology’. We are here today to talk about our
own work and interests in the field of quantum biology but also the
fascinating work of our colleagues who have discovered weird quantum
effects in such a diverse range of biological activities. We’ll do our
best to answer any relevant fundamental quantum or biology questions,
such as what is quantum entanglement or how do enzyme work. We are also
happy to speculate on how revolutionary quantum biology technologies may
be developed from these ground-breaking discoveries. We hope to
stimulate interest in what, we believe, is the most exciting emerging
science of the 21st century! We will be back at 1 pm ET to answer your
questions, ask us anything!