Quantum effects in biological systems

[xentity1x]

I am going into my fourth year of studying physics and math as an undergrad. So I'm starting to think about what I want to research after I graduate. So far I'm pretty sure I want to go into biophysics. Specifically, I'm interesting in studying quantum mechanical effects in biological or organic systems, such as proteins or cells. Does anyone know of people that research this? Also does anyone think this is an unrealistic topic for research?

 

[Andy Resnick]

There's a lot of work out there on photosynthesis and molecular motors (kinesin, dynein, etc), so you could check out that literature and see if it's what you had in mind.

There's also some work on channel/transporter proteins, but since the structures are not known as well, there's less existing stuff: i.e., a good opportunity to contribute.

 

[Borek]

Roger Penrose's "The Emperor's New Mind", "Shadows of the Mind" and "The Large, the Small and the Human Mind" come to mind. But IMHO treating them too seriously may prove dangerous for your further career.

 

[eri]

With proteins and cells, you're not really looking at quantum mechanical effects anymore - these would be considered macroscopic systems. I know our biophysics department does a lot of research on how proteins assemble themselves and how they are likely to be formed. The physics they use is often found more in the analysis, modeling, and statistics.

 

[xentity1x]

I was thinking about stuff like this http://lphys.chem.utoronto.ca/newpage/research/coherent-control/" , where people look for coherent quantum effects in a macroscopic system.

 

[Mike H]

Given that bacteriorhodopsin's function is dependent upon absorption of light, it's not unexpected that it is amenable to such laser-based studies. It's a bit like photosynthetic systems in that regard, which were mentioned above.

There is also interest in understanding the role of hydrogen tunneling in enzyme catalysis, but that tends to be a bit more "chemistry"-focused from what I've seen.

 

[beeker]

This is what you're talking about - very cool. Possibly the next wave.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/43147/title/Living_physics