I propose to treat the biological evolution of genoms by means of quantum mechanical tools. We start with the concept of meta- gene, which specifies the "selfish gene" of R.Dawkins. Meta- gene encodes the abstract living unity, which can live relatively independently of the others, and can contain a few real creatures. Each population of living creatures we treat as the wave function on meta- genes, which module squared is the total number of creatures with the given meta-gene, and the phase is the sum of "aspirations" to change the classical states of meta- genes. Each individual life thus becomes one of possible outcomes of the virtual quantum measurement of this function. The evolution of genomes is described by the unitary operator in the space of psi-functions or by Kossovsky-Lindblad equation in the case of open biosystems. This operator contains all the information about specific conditions under which individuals are, and how "aspirations" of their meta- genes may be implemented at the biochemical level. We show the example of quantum description of the population with two parts of meta-gene: "wolves" and "deer", which can be simultaneously in the same abstract living unity. "Selfish gene" reconciled with the notion of individuality of alive beings that gives possibility to consider evolutionary scenarios and their possible physical causes from the single position.
I propose to treat the biological evolution of genoms by means of quantum mechanical tools. We start with the concept of meta- gene, which specifies the "selfish gene" of R.Dawkins. Meta- gene encodes the abstract living unity, which can live relatively independently of the others, and can contain a few real creatures. Each population of living creatures we treat as the wave function on meta- genes, which module squared is the total number of creatures with the given meta-gene, and the phase is the sum of "aspirations" to change the classical states of meta- genes. Each individual life thus becomes one of possible outcomes of the virtual quantum measurement of this function. The evolution of genomes is described by the unitary operator in the space of psi-functions or by Kossovsky-Lindblad equation in the case of open biosystems. This operator contains all the information about specific conditions under which individuals are, and how "aspirations" of their meta- genes may be implemented at the biochemical level. We show the example of quantum description of the population with two parts of meta-gene: "wolves" and "deer", which can be simultaneously in the same abstract living unity. "Selfish gene" reconciled with the notion of individuality of alive beings that gives possibility to consider evolutionary scenarios and their possible physical causes from the single position.
This article focuses on the approach to biology in terms of quantum mechanics. Quantum biology is a hypothesis that allows experimental verification, and pretends to be a further refinement of the known gene-centric model. The state of the species is represented as the state vector in the Hilbert space, so that the evolution of this vector is described by means of quantum mechanics. Experimental verification of this hypothesis is based on the accuracy of quantum theory and the ability to quickly gather statistics when working with populations of bacteria. The positive result of such experiment would allow to apply to the living computational methods of quantum theory, which has not yet go beyond the particular ''quantum effects''.
Quantum information has emerged as a transformative concept across diverse fields, including information theory, quantum computing, and materials science. Its potential to surpass classical information processing capabilities has sparked significant research interest. This paper investigates the role of quantum information in biological systems, specifically exploring its potential as a fundamental driver of evolution. We propose a novel theoretical framework, termed the "Quantum Gene" mechanism, which posits that quantum information, through entanglement and quantum computation, can significantly influence biological processes and drive evolutionary trajectories. This work offers a new perspective on evolution by highlighting the potential of quantum mechanics to underpin fundamental biological mechanisms.
We present the novel approach to mathematical modeling of information processes in biosystems. It explores the mathematical formalism and methodology of quantum theory, especially quantum measurement theory. This approach is known as quantum-like and it should be distinguished from study of genuine quantum physical processes in biosystems (quantum biophysics, quantum cognition). It is based on quantum information representation of biosystem's state and modeling its dynamics in the framework of theory of open quantum systems. This paper starts with the non-physicist friendly presentation of quantum measurement theory, from the original von Neumann formulation to modern theory of quantum instruments. Then, latter is applied to model combinations of cognitive effects and gene regulation of glucose/lactose metabolism in Escherichia coli bacterium. The most general construction of quantum instruments is based on the scheme of indirect measurement, in that measurement apparatus plays the role of the environment for a biosystem. The biological essence of this scheme is illustrated by quantum formalization of Helmholtz sensation-perception theory. Then we move to open systems dynamics and consider quantum master equation, with concentrating on quantum Markov processes. In this framework, we model functioning of biological functions such as psychological functions and epigenetic mutation.
I start from the fundamental principles of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, without probability, and interpret them using the notion of coexistence: a quantum state can be read, not uniquely, as a coexistence of other quantum states, which are pairwise orthogonal. In this formalism, I prove that a conscious observer is necessarily a physical object that can memorize local events by setting one of its parts in an exactly specified constant quantum state (hypotheses H1, H2 and H3). Then I define the probability of a future event as the proportion of initial observers, all identical, who will actually experience that event. It then becomes possible to establish the usual results of quantum mechanics. Furthermore, I detail the link between probabilities and relative frequencies. Additionally, I study the biological feasibility of this modelling of observer's mind. The second part of this paper completes the neuronal description of the mind functions, based on current neuroscientific knowledge. It provides a model that is compatible with the assumptions of the first part and consistent with our daily conscious experience. In particular, it develops a model of self-consciousness based on an explicit use of the random component of neuron behaviour; according to the first part, that random is in fact the coexistence of a multiplicity of possibilities. So, when the mind measures the random part of certain neurons in the brain, he goes himself within each of these possibilities. The mind has a decision-making component that is active in this situation, appearing then as the cause of the choice of this possibility among all the others. This models the self-consciousness which then ensures the unity of our conscious experience by equating this experience with ``what the ego is conscious about''. The conclusion details the points that remain to be developed.
This workconsiders the possibility of an analog transition between the microcosm of quantum mechanics and the macrocosm of biology, where the most important process is the relationship of a biological species (BS) with its ecological niche (EN). In the first workpart the hypothesis is put forward, that the EN acts as an analogue of a potential well in quantum mechanics, which makes it possible to apply the tools of the latter. Then the stable BS state, as a system structure, corresponds to the eigenvalues of some wave function that oscillates in the EN (like an electron in an atom). At the same time, it is possible to distinguish the linear and nonlinear stages of these oscillations. The evolution nonlinear part, when the BS enters a chaotic stage of existence, can be determined by both external changes in the EN and internal causes at the genome level.The first reasons can be called Darwinian, the second — Lamarckian. In general, the BS eigenvalues are determined by boundary conditions (based on the Hutchinson cube): generalized the EN geometry and other environmental factors. It is shown how the basic concepts of quantum mechanics such as superposition, tunneling through a potential barrier, the Pauli principleare manifest themselves in biology. The latter corresponds to Gause's law in biology: only one species with certain ecological needs can live inside one ecological niche. In the second work part possible evolutionary correlation effects are discussed between the potential well, determined by the corresponding EN, and the potential well, which affects the conformational (energy) genome state of the BS. It is assumed that a change in the EN transforms the informational genome status through natural selection. On the other hand, and a change in the genome topology of the individuals can eventually to change the species whole and lead to the transformation of its niche.
The smallest details of living systems are molecular devices that operate between the classical and quantum levels, i.e. between the potential dimension (microscale) and the actual three-dimensional space (macroscale). They realize non-demolition quantum measurements in which time appears as a mesoscale dimension separating contradictory statements in the course of actualization. These smaller devices form larger devices (macromolecular complexes), up to living body. The quantum device possesses its own potential internal quantum state (IQS), which is maintained for prolonged time via error-correction being a reflection over this state. Decoherence-free IQS can exhibit itself by a creative generation of iteration limits in the real world. To avoid a collapse of the quantum information in the process of correcting errors, it is possible to make a partial measurement that extracts only the error-information and leaves the encoded state untouched. In natural quantum computers, which are living systems, the error-correction is internal. It is a result of reflection, given as a sort of a subjective process allotting optimal limits of iteration. The IQS resembles the properties of a quasi-particle, which interacts with the surround, applying decoherence commands to it. In this framework, enzymes are molecular automata of the extremal quantum computer, the set of which maintains stable highly ordered coherent state, and genome represents a concatenation of error-correcting codes into a single reflective set. Biological systems, being autopoietic in physical space, control quantum measurements in the physical universe. The biological evolution is really a functional evolution of measurement constraints in which limits of iteration are established possessing criteria of perfection and having selective values.