Johnjoe McFadden is a professor of molecular genetics at the University of Surrey, UK, where he studies disease-causing microorganisms. The author of Quantum Evolution co-wrote, with Jim Al-Khalili, the article “The origins of quantum biology”, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, in 2018.

Abstract: Quantum biology is usually considered to be a new discipline, arising from recent research that suggests that biological phenomena such as photosynthesis, enzyme catalysis, avian navigation or olfaction may not only operate within the bounds of classical physics but also make use of a number of the non-trivial features of quantum mechanics, such as coherence, tunnelling and, perhaps, entanglement. However, although the most significant findings have emerged in the past two decades, the roots of quantum biology go much deeper—to the quantum pioneers of the early twentieth century. We will argue that some of the insights provided by these pioneering physicists remain relevant to our understanding of quantum biology today.

Authors: Johnjoe McFadden, Jim Al-Khalili.

Read the article here.