Scott Waring
Until recently, the complexities of biological processes and systems have emphasized classifications and empirical rules, that have lacked explanatory power and been limited by many exceptions. On the other hand, modern physics and quantum physics in particular, has a universal capacity to explain physical interactions down to the subatomic scale, including biological processes and systems. The scientific field of biology has succeeded over the past decades in explaining macroscopic phenomena that are based on an improved understanding of molecular structures and behaviours. Likewise, quantum physics has provided a non-classical approach to unintuitive characteristics, and has recently been directed towards systems of increasing complexity. With the rise of high performance computing, the field of quantum biology has rapidly developed in recent years to challenge us to rethink biological processes such as the magnetoreception of Earth’s magnetic field that allows birds to migrate, how enzymes are able to accelerate reactions at astonishing speeds, and why photosynthesis in plants is near to 100% efficient. Even biology’s primary conceptual basis, namely Charles Darwin’s and Alfred Wallace’s theory of evolution by natural selection, is now thought to be influenced by the esoteric but fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. This article will act as a guide to explain such phenomena, explore the growing interconnectedness between the two scientific fields and question the future possibilities of quantum biology.