Life on the Edge - The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology

Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation? Like Richard Dawkins' __The Selfish Gene__, which provided a new perspective on how evolution works, __Life on the Edge__ alters our understanding of our world's fundamental dynamics. Bringing together first-hand experience at the cutting edge of science with unparalleled gifts of explanation, Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe Macfadden reveal that missing ingredient to be quantum mechanics; the phenomena that lie at the heart of this most mysterious of sciences. Drawing on recent ground-breaking experiments around the world, each chapter in __Life on the Edge__ engages by illustrating one of life's puzzles: How do migrating birds know where to go? How do we really smell the scent of a rose? How do our genes copy themselves with such precision? __Life on the Edge__ accessibly reveals how quantum mechanics can answer these probing questions of the universe. Guiding the reader through the rapidly unfolding discoveries of the last few years, Al-Khalili and McFadden communicate the excitement of the explosive new field of quantum biology and its potentially revolutionary applications, while offering insights into the biggest puzzle of all: what is life? As they brilliantly demonstrate in these groundbreaking pages, life exists on the quantum edge. About the Authors i Acknowledgments ii 1 Introduction A hidden spooky reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Quantum biology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Why should we be excited about quantum biology? . . . . . . . . 19 2 What is life? The “life force” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Triumph of the machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 A molecular billiard table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Life as chaos? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Peering deeper into life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Genes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Life’s curious grin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 The quantum revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Schrödinger’s wave function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The early quantum biologists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Order all the way down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 The estrangement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 3 The engines of life Enzymes: between the quick and the dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Why we need enzymes and how tadpoles lose their tails . . . . . 66 Changing the landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Jiggling and wiggling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Does transition state theory explain it all? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Pushing electrons around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Quantum tunneling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Quantum tunneling of electrons in biology . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Moving protons around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 The kinetic isotope effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 So does this establish the quantum in quantum biology? . . . . . 99 4 The quantum beat The central mystery of quantum mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Quantum measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Voyage to the center of photosynthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 The quantum beat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 5 Finding Nemo’s home The physical reality of odors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Unlocking the odor key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Smelling with a quantum nose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Battle of the noses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Physicists take a sniff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 6 The butterfly, the fruit fly and the quantum robin The avian compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Quantum spin and spooky action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 A radical sense of direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 7 Quantum genes Fidelity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Infidelity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 The giraffe, the bean and the fruit fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Coding with protons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Quantum jumping genes? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 8 Mind How odd is consciousness? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 The mechanics of thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 How mind moves matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Computing with qubits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Computing with microtubules? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Quantum ion channels? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 9 How life began The gunk problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 From gunk to cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 The RNA world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 So, can quantum mechanics help? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 What did the first self-replicator look like? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 10 Quantum biology: life on the edge of a storm Good, good, good, good vibrations (bop bop) . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Reflections on the motive force of life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 Life on the quantum edge of a classical storm . . . . . . . . . . . 317 Can we exploit quantum biology to make new living technology? 323 Building life from the bottom up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 Launching the primordial quantum protocell . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Epilogue: quantum life Cover 1 Titlepage 2 Colophon 3 Dedication 4 Contents 5 About the Authors 8 Acknowledgments 9 1 Introduction 11 A hidden spooky reality 16 Quantum biology 24 Why should we be excited about quantum biology? 29 2 What is life? 34 The “life force” 38 Triumph of the machines 40 A molecular billiard table 42 Life as chaos? 43 Peering deeper into life 45 Genes 47 Life’s curious grin 50 The quantum revolution 52 Schrödinger’s wave function 57 The early quantum biologists 60 Order all the way down 63 The estrangement 66 3 The engines of life 70 Enzymes: between the quick and the dead 74 Why we need enzymes and how tadpoles lose their tails 76 Changing the landscape 81 Jiggling and wiggling 87 Does transition state theory explain it all? 93 Pushing electrons around 95 Quantum tunneling 101 Quantum tunneling of electrons in biology 103 Moving protons around 104 The kinetic isotope effect 106 So does this establish the quantum in quantum biology? 109 4 The quantum beat 113 The central mystery of quantum mechanics 116 Quantum measurement 129 Voyage to the center of photosynthesis 132 The quantum beat 138 5 Finding Nemo’s home 148 The physical reality of odors 156 Unlocking the odor key 162 Smelling with a quantum nose 170 Battle of the noses 175 Physicists take a sniff 178 6 The butterfly, the fruit fly and the quantum robin 182 The avian compass 189 Quantum spin and spooky action 199 A radical sense of direction 205 7 Quantum genes 214 Fidelity 220 Infidelity 225 The giraffe, the bean and the fruit fly 226 Coding with protons 233 Quantum jumping genes? 239 8 Mind 250 How odd is consciousness? 255 The mechanics of thought 261 How mind moves matter 267 Computing with qubits 268 Computing with microtubules? 275 Quantum ion channels? 279 9 How life began 286 The gunk problem 291 From gunk to cells 295 The RNA world 297 So, can quantum mechanics help? 304 What did the first self-replicator look like? 308 10 Quantum biology: life on the edge of a storm 310 Good, good, good, good vibrations (bop bop) 313 Reflections on the motive force of life 320 Life on the quantum edge of a classical storm 327 Can we exploit quantum biology to make new living technology? 333 Building life from the bottom up 336 Launching the primordial quantum protocell 341 Epilogue: quantum life 347 Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be' Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation' Like Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, which provided a new perspective on how evolution works, Life on the Edge alters our understanding of our world's fundamental dynamics. Bringing together first-hand experience at the cutting edge of science with unparalleled gifts of explanation, Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe Macfadden reveal that missing ingredient to be quantum mechanics; the phenomena that lie at the heart of this most mysterious of sciences. Drawing on recent ground-breaking experiments around the world, each chapter in Life on the Edge engages by illustrating one of life's puzzles: How do migrating birds know where to go' How do we really smell the scent of a rose' How do our genes copy themselves with such precision' Life on the Edge accessibly reveals how quantum mechanics can answer these probing questions of the universe. Guiding the reader through the rapidly unfolding discoveries of the last few years, Al-Khalili and McFadden communicate the excitement of the explosive new field of quantum biology and its potentially revolutionary applications, while offering insights into the biggest puzzle of all: what is life' As they brilliantly demonstrate in these groundbreaking pages, life exists on the quantum edge. From the Hardcover edition New York Times bestseller • Life on the Edge alters our understanding of our world's fundamental dynamics through the use of quantum mechanics. Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation? Using first-hand experience at the cutting edge of science, Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe Macfadden reveal that missing ingredient to be quantum mechanics. Drawing on recent ground-breaking experiments around the world, each chapter in Life on the Edge illustrates one of life's puzzles: How do migrating birds know where to go? How do we really smell the scent of a rose? How do our genes copy themselves with such precision? Life on the Edge accessibly reveals how quantum mechanics can answer these probing questions of the universe. Guiding the reader through the rapidly unfolding discoveries of the last few years, Al-Khalili and McFadden describe the explosive new field of quantum biology and its potentially revolutionary applications, while offering insights into the biggest puzzle of all: what is life? As they brilliantly demonstrate in these groundbreaking pages, life exists on the quantum edge. Winner, Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation? Like Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, which provided a new perspective on evolution by shifting the focus of natural selection from organisms to genes, Life On The Edge alters our understanding of life from cells or biomolecules to the fundamental particles that drive life's dynamics. From this new perspective, life makes more sense as its missing ingredient is revealed to be quantum mechanics and the strange phenomena that lie at the heart of this most mysterious of sciences. -- From the hardcover edition Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how does it work? It is remarkable that in this age of cloning and even synthetic biology, nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we missing a vital ingredient in its creation? Like Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene which provided a new perspective on evolution by shifting the focus of natural selection from organisms to genes, Life On The Edge alters our understanding of life from cells or biomolecules to the fundamental particles that drive life's dynamics. From this new perspective, life makes more sense as its missing ingredient is revealed to be quantum mechanics and the strange phenomena that lie at the heart of this most mysterious of sciences. Looks at the relationship between biology and the science of quantum mechanics, looking at recent scientific research on the matter that suggests that life can be understood through an underlying quantum basis