Have you ever wondered how simple organisms like bacteria or fungi make complex decisions? without a brain? Or how a single cell can handle billions of simultaneous operations without going haywire? For decades, we attributed these abilities to chemical reactions and electrical signals. Yet something didn’t add up: the speed of computation seemed too fast to be explained by traditional biochemistry alone. It was almost as if our cells were hiding a secret. And maybe they are. A new study of quantum effects in biological systems is revolutionizing our understanding of how life processes information.
The body Philip Kurian of Howard University found that Our cells could exploit quantum phenomena to process data billions of times faster than we thought possible. A discovery that not only confirms the intuition had 80 years ago by the legendary physicist Erwin Schrodinger, but it also opens up completely new scenarios on the computational nature of life.
When Quantum Physics Meets Biology
Biology and quantum mechanics have always been considered separate disciplines, with almost no points of contact. The first deals with hot, complex and unpredictable systems; the second It operates at temperatures close to absolute zero, under ultra-precise conditions. An impossible marriage, at least on paper.
Already eighty years ago, however, Schrodinger dared to suggest otherwise. In his famous lecture series “What is Life?”, he hypothesized that as yet undiscovered quantum effects could play a crucial role in maintaining genetic stability in living organisms. A futuristic theory that remained unconfirmed for decades.
The main problem was obvious: how could quantum processes exist within a biological system? How could something so delicate survive in the thermal and molecular chaos of a living organism?
This is precisely the knot that Kurian has begun to unravel, finally connecting the biological world with quantum mechanics.
Tryptophan and Quantum Superradiance
The key to these new studies by Kurian starts from a previous work of his on a molecule that we take in daily: the tryptophan, an essential amino acid found in milk, eggs, meat, and nuts. A substance that we simply consider “nutritional”, but which could be much more.
Normally, a single tryptophan molecule absorbs light (a photon) at a certain frequency and emits another at a different frequency. This phenomenon, called fluorescence, is widely used to study proteins. Nothing particularly surprising.
The magic happens when many tryptophan molecules interact with a single photon in a coordinated way, inside large biological structures such as neurons, microtubules or centrioles. Under these conditions, they exhibit a quantum behavior called “superradiance“, which produces a much more intense fluorescence than would be observed with a single molecule. It is as if all the tryptophan molecules behaved like a perfectly synchronized orchestra rather than like solo musicians.
Secondo Kurian's study, this superradiance suggests something revolutionary: information processing in biological systems does not rely only on traditional chemical signaling.
It is possible that the tryptophan network functions as a kind of “quantum optical fiber,” allowing eukaryotic cells to transmit information at speeds billions of times faster than conventional biochemical pathways.
Think about it: Our most advanced computers “work hard” to handle complex calculations, but a simple cell could use quantum effects to process information at dizzying speeds. It’s like discovering that the good old bicycle in the garage is actually a Ferrari in disguise.
Quantum Effects, for Extraordinary Computational Power
Tryptophan is not exclusive to complex organisms like us. It is an essential amino acid for the human body and contributes to the growth of plants, but its presence also extends to simpler life forms. Bacteria, fungi, and plants can metabolize this molecule. And this seemingly insignificant detail could have huge implications.
Kurian points out a fact that we often overlook:
“Many scientists fail to consider that organisms without nervous systems such as bacteria, fungi, and plants, which make up the majority of Earth’s biomass, perform sophisticated computations. Because these organisms have been on our planet much longer than animals, they account for the vast majority of Earth’s carbon-based computation.”
This makes me think about how often we underestimate the intelligence of the simplest organisms. A mushroom spreading through the undergrowth could have computational capabilities that would make our supercomputers pale in comparison.
Evolution in a new light
It is possible that quantum effects such as superradiance played a fundamental role in the evolution of eukaryotic organisms. And if quantum superradiance were an integral part of information processing in the simplest life forms, it could mean that carbon-based living things have far greater computational power than artificial quantum systems.
Seth Lloyd, a quantum physicist at MIT, enthusiastically comments on Kurian's study: "I applaud Dr. Kurian's bold and imaginative efforts to apply the fundamental physics of computation to the total amount of information processing performed by living systems over the course of life on Earth. It is important to remember that the computation performed by living systems is vastly more powerful than that performed by artificial systems."
I find this extraordinary: while we are racing to develop quantum computers that operate under extremely controlled conditions, nature may have found a way to exploit quantum effects at room temperature billions of years ago. Life never ceases to amaze us.
Although more research is needed to find more evidence to support Kurian's findings, this study represents a new chapter in the field of biology. It encourages us to reconsider the evolution of life on Earth from a completely new perspective, where quantum physics and biology are no longer separate disciplines, but two sides of the same fascinating coin.
