Quantum biology studies how quantum effects affect biological processes and potentially leads to breakthroughs in medicine and biotechnology. Despite the assumption that quantum effects disappear rapidly in biological systems, studies show that these effects play a key role in physiological processes. This opens the possibility of manipulating these processes to create remotely controlled non-invasive therapeutic devices. However, achieving this requires a new, interdisciplinary approach to scientific research.

Imagine using your cell phone to monitor the activity of your own cells to treat injuries and illnesses. It sounds like something from the imagination of an overly optimistic sci-fi writer. But thanks to the new field of quantum biology, it may one day be possible.

In the last few decades, scientists have made incredible progress in understanding and manipulating biological systems at much smaller scales, from protein folding to genetic engineering. However, the extent of the effect of quantum effects on living systems is not fully understood.

Quantum effects are phenomena that occur between atoms and molecules that cannot be explained by classical physics. It has been known for more than a century that the rules of classical mechanics, such as Newton’s laws of motion, are violated at the atomic scale. Instead, tiny objects behave according to a different set of laws known as quantum mechanics.

To people who can only perceive the macroscopic world or what can be seen with the naked eye, quantum mechanics may seem illogical and somewhat magical. In the quantum world, things happen that you wouldn’t expect, like electrons “tunnelling” through tiny energy barriers and emerging solidly on the other side, or being in two different places at once in a phenomenon called superposition.

I have a training as a quantum engineer. Research in quantum mechanics often focuses on technology. Yet, somewhat surprisingly, there is growing evidence that nature, an engineer with billions of years of experience, has learned to use quantum mechanics to work best. If this is indeed the case, it means that our understanding of biology is fundamentally lacking. This also means that we can control physiological processes using the quantum properties of biological matter.

Quantum in biology is apparently real.

Researchers can manipulate quantum phenomena to create better technology. In fact, you already live in a world of quantum energy: from laser pointers to GPS to magnetic resonance imaging to the transistors in your computer, all these technologies are based on quantum effects.

In general, quantum effects only occur at very small length and mass scales or when the temperature approaches absolute zero. This is because quantum objects such as atoms and molecules lose their “quantity” when they interact uncontrollably with each other and with their surroundings. In other words, the macroscopic set of quantum objects is better described by the laws of classical mechanics. Anything that begins with quantum dies classically. For example, an electron can be controlled to be in two places at once, but after a while it ends up in one place – just as classically expected.

In a complex, noisy biological system, most quantum effects are expected to dissipate quickly and disappear in what physicist Erwin Schrödinger calls “the warm, humid environment of the cell.” For most physicists, the fact that the living world functions at high temperatures and in complex environments means that biology can be adequately and completely described by classical physics: There is no strange barrier crossing, no existence in several places at once.

However, chemists have long disagreed. The study of basic chemical reactions at room temperature clearly shows that processes occurring inside biomolecules such as proteins and genetic material are the result of quantum effects. More importantly, such nanoscopic, short-lived quantum effects are consistent with the functioning of some macroscopic physiological processes that biologists measure in living cells and organisms. Research shows that quantum effects affect biological functions, including regulation of enzyme activity, sensing of magnetic fields, cellular metabolism, and transport of electrons in biomolecules.

how to study quantum biology

The surprising possibility that subtle quantum effects can alter biological processes is both an exciting frontier and a challenge for scientists. The study of quantum mechanics effects in biology requires instruments that can measure short time scales, small length scales, and subtle differences in quantum states that cause physiological changes – all integrated into a traditional wet laboratory environment.

Currently, a lack of understanding of how such processes work at the nanoscale prevents researchers from determining exactly what strength and frequency of magnetic fields cause certain chemical reactions in cells. Current cell phone, wearable and miniaturization technologies are already sufficient to create individual weak magnetic fields that change physiology for better or for worse. The missing piece of the puzzle, therefore, is a “deterministic codebook” on how to map quantum causes to physiological consequences.