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Possibility of photon emission in the fundamental biological processes involving quantum search of base pairs and amino acids
R.P.Bajpai
Institute of Self-Organising Systems and Biophysics,
North Eastern Hill University, Shillong 793022, India
and
International Institute of BioPhysics, IIB e. V.
Raketenstation, Hombroich, D41472, Neuss Germany
The question "Why does Biology defy its integration with Science?’’ is raised to emphasise the correctness of the physical paradigm and its inability to describe a living system. The primary constructs of the physical paradigm are the concepts of space, time, matter, energy, and information. The concepts are essential for a description of any physical system. Each concept took many years to evolve but a scope for its further revision or refinement always exists. The evolutionary nature means that the earlier representations of a concept are approximations valid in restricted domains. An approximate representation is quite often very convenient in describing some features of a phenomenon. The concept of three-dimensional real space and a one-dimensional time is an example of a widely used approximation; it is much simpler than the concept of four-dimensional space-time. It is believed that a living system can be described correctly in this approximation. The belief considers a living system to be a physical system whose influence is restricted to the three-dimensional real space and one-dimensional real time. The belief rules out many elegant geometrical structures of living system’s space-time. The belief is justified by the fact that every living system ultimately transforms into a physical system and various other possibilities do not give equally successful description of living systems. The framework of Molecular Biochemistry provides another example of the successful use of approximate concepts of matter energy and information. The framework assumes separate identity of biomolecules, incoherent and random kinetics of chemical reactions, and information transfers through only chemical molecules. The assumptions lead to the pictorial language of biomolecules and their chemical reactions. The language is successful in describing many properties; but some remain incomprehensible and a few among the incomprehensible properties are not even measurable. Molecular Biochemistry makes an operational demarcation of the properties of living systems into three classes - microscopic that are comprehensible, macroscopic that are measurable but incomprehensible, and consciousness that are neither measurable nor comprehensible. The basic assumptions can generate either spatio-temporal cooperativity or any non-locality. The former is needed for understanding the observed efficiency and order of macroscopic properties and the latter for understanding counter intuitive behaviour of consciousness properties. The demarcation is, therefore, an indication of some difficulty at the fundamental level
The description of the incomprehensible properties is simpler in a language using the concept of information. The concept has both classical and quantum aspects. The classical aspect brings out a Maxwell’s demon like role of protein molecules in converting energy of its local environment into information. It also explains the need of a special mechanism to convert biochemical energy of ATP-ADP cycle into photons in the visible range. The quantum aspect of information is still unfolding but has opened up a new possibility of photon mediated non-local information transfer. It is important to note that photons play a crucial role in both aspects of information as well as in usual incoherent chemical reactions. The role of photon is too often detectable by the study of the associated. photon signal observed from a distance. The incessant and ubiquitous emission of photons by living systems encourages us to believe that the role of photon in the ongoing processes of living systems will be comprehensible. Photons emanating from living systems show unusual features, which are responsible for the special name biophoton for them. These features indicate that the role of photons goes beyond the classical incoherent reactions and somehow their quantum and non-classical features are also invoked. A living system is an actualisation of a macroscopic quantum structure. The possibility is bewildering and is the main reason for not taking due cognisance of biophotons. The situation is, however, changing rapidly and a scenario has emerged in which biophotons play a key role in understanding a living system. The three classes of properties of a living system are linked with the three observable features of photon signals - microscopic properties with classical features, macroscopic properties with local quantum or non-classical features, and consciousness properties with non-local and entangled features.
The impetus to the scenario is provided by the suggestion that living systems can employ the quantum search algorithm while matching a base with another base in DNA replication and a codon with an amino acid in protein synthesis. The quantum algorithm is the most efficient search strategy and it can select an object from the symmetric soup of 4 objects in one query and from the symmetric soup of 20 objects in three queries. The selection is not done by matching objects one by one but by switching on an interaction that forces the symmetric state of the soup to change into the desired state through quantum evolution. Conservation of energy and matter during the evolution require coupling and co-ordination of many processes. The natural emergence of 1,4,3,and 20 is too fortuitous to ignore. Perhaps, a living system has the capability to act in a quantum way. Such a capability will also confer the cooperativity required for understanding the macroscopic properties of the system. The quantum capability can be realised only if the system has a mechanism to produce and sustain quantum coherence. It is not necessary for the system to remain in a quantum state all the time; the existence of intermittent patches or domains of coherence is sufficient. The size of a quantum patch and its duration of coherence should be sufficient as to allow the partial completion of a task and to register the status of the task just before the end of coherence. The patch may subsequently loose its coherency for a small time and become incoherent. The incoherent state of the patch is equally useful for information processing. The patch can recoup the energy lost in quantum processing and reset its various memory registers in order to become coherent again for completing the unfinished task. A patch thus takes energy from incoherent chemical reactions, converts the energy into information, uses the information to carry out tasks in a quantum state, and then returns back to its incoherent state. The intermittence of quantum coherence does not need to be either periodic or correlated among different patches. Correlation is required only in the distribution of tasks to different patches and in the binding of the processed information. Some energy is usually either absorbed or emitted in a chemical reaction; the energy transfer has to be in a coherent state during a quantum process. Since it is highly improbable for energy to accumulate in a quantum mode, a quantum process that absorbs energy should not occur. The quantum processes that emit energy can occur provided energy is emitted in states entangled with the system. The interactions a quantum patch with its local and far away environments will make it incoherent after awhile and the photons will be disentangled from the system. Photons are observable in both entangled and disentangled states. They also retain the information about the quantum processes.
It is suggested that the photons emanating from the quantum processes are biophotons. The suggestion can explain various features of biophoton signals hitherto considered strange. A biophoton signal is ultra weak in strength because the signal emanates from a macroscopic assembly of molecules. It is ubiquitous and incessant because the fundamental biological processes of DNA replication and protein synthesis occur continuously in all living systems. It contains signatures of the system and is also situation specific because the actual machinery of synthesis depends on a living system while the requirements of different proteins depend upon a situation. The non-classical features of biophoton signals result from the emission in a quantum process. The intensity of a biophoton signal should capture ongoing changes in the information content of the system. A large amount of information is generated in mitosis, so those cells undergoing division must emit intense biophoton signals. Similarly, the processes that suddenly destroy a large amount of information e.g. cell death must also emit intense signals. Finally, a biophoton signal emitted from many patches performing different tasks is not expected to show any regularity. One, however, expects to observe the bursts of photon in a signal, which is an indication of a bigger size of quantum patch or its longer durationof quantum coherency. Another aspect of the scenario is linked with the possibility of detecting photons in a state entangled with the system. The detection will also provide some information of the state of the entangled system. The information will be non-local. It can even be used to make counter intuitive predictions about the system. Who knows some persons with heightened consciousness properties are simply biological detectors of the quantum state of entangled photons? Perhaps, some non-human living systems also have similar capabilities.
Talk presented at the Inauguration Festivities of the International Institute of Biophysics on September 3,2000
