HORIZONS of scientific research

Quantum Biology. What is it?

As far as I remember, the question "what is it?" was asked when the effect of low doses of radiation after the Chernobyl accident was discovered. They joked about it for a long time until they figured out the mechanism of action that is different from direct damage to the cell genome. Later, they discovered the so-called "bystander effect" in the area of low doses - a phenomenon in which a damaged cell emits a signal that causes an adaptive reaction in neighboring cells. They found out that this effect can be represented by microparticles, photons and even an acoustic wave. Low doses of radiation with the help of the "bystander effect" change an entire group or population of cells. The discussion of these phenomena was furious. Today, it's time for quantum biology. What is it? I am looking for an answer in my research on the processes of adaptation of yeast cells and speciation of tularemia bacteria in the mountains of Armenia.

Physicists know the quantum properties of microparticles: dualism, superposition, entanglement and coherence. Dualism means that microparticles exhibit dual corpuscular-wave behavior; the quantum effect of several independent states is equal to their sum; the interconnected state of two or more particles is entangled and their joint action is coherent.

Latest technologies allow us to see the laws of quantum mechanics in biology. During photosynthesis, the energy of sunlight is transferred to the cell due to the duality of photons that allows the light wave to penetrate cell membranes (quantum tunnel effect). The tunnel effect allows cells to obtain and emit biophotons - quantum signals from the cells themselves (in Figure). The exact mechanism of biophoton production is unknown, but it has been established that they are associated with intracellular processes. For example, cell damage stimulates the work of the genome and other cellular mechanisms. Cell activity is accompanied by cell signals to neighbors (the "bystander effect"). It has been shown that biophotons affect the initiation of gene expression, metabolism and development of the intracellular environment.

Distribution of the number of photons emitted by Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells by the time of their registration.
Report by N.V.Dunin at LRB JINR. 2024.

It is known that changes in the intracellular environment cause reconstruction of the spatial structures of macromolecules, including proteins and DNA. Such changes in macromolecules produce a new group of cells. What is the mechanism of these adaptive changes? The relation between the structure of macromolecules and the environment cannot be explained only by the minimization of free energy, since we do not find such a dependence in the case of DNA changes. We can assume that changes in the intracellular environment renew electromagnetic relations between molecules and particles. Intracellular environments in a group are related by signal communication and the common intercellular environment. Events in cells of one group are interrelated, although they can occur at different times and be separated by distance. It can be concluded that the main properties of the quantum world of a living cell are close communication in a group of cells and the corpuscular-wave dualism of biophotons. Changes in the environment in cells and between cells caused by aging and the external environment adapt the entire group of cells and produce a new group of cells.

Radiation stimulates intracellular mechanisms, promotes the development of the "bystander effect" and biophotons. It is known that biophotons of a damaged cell penetrate the membrane into neighboring cells and increase the level of gene expression. The expression of genes of reparation, reproduction and cell death is stimulated. Radiation hormesis develops, it is an increase in the resistance of some cells. An increase in gene expression is observed by the number of biophotons emitted by the cell. The periodicity of the increase in the number of emitted biophotons (in Figure) indicates their relation with the mechanisms of the cell. At present, it has become possible to artificially regulate the level of gene expression in the bystander effect.

Quantum effects are studied and widely used in medicine. Changes in biophoton emission indicate a transformation in cell functioning and this feature serves to detect cancer cells. Quantum "bystander effects" that occur around a tumor and change neighboring cells can be suppressed by various techniques.

How can we understand that an ecosystem lives by the laws of quantum mechanics? Armenian scientists have studied the impact of the Metsamor nuclear power plant on a billion-strong community of soil bacteria. They found that very weak radiation activity of the soil, damaging only individual cells of bacteria and plant roots, initiates the reproduction and increase in resistance of the entire population of one bacterial strain, the extinction of the population of another strain and the mutation of plant branch cells. Signal transmission in tissues, populations and communities in the soil, water and air is carried out using quantum signal communication. The coordinated change in community cells and the difference in reaction in different types and subspecies of cells shows the coherence of the external and intracellular environments and the features of the mechanisms of cell adaptation. Another example from the life of a community - foci of tularemia bacteria in the soil persist for many decades, producing new species and subspecies. Viruses, like other microorganisms, occur in communities in the soil, in water and in populations of animals and plants. It is possible due to biophotonic communication of different cells, not only bacterial ones. We can move on to the life of plant and animal communities, give examples of the "bystander effect" in animal populations. It is all possible due to quantum signaling.

New species and subspecies occur where environmental conditions change and reproduction is possible in new conditions. Environmental variability affects intracellular structures according to quantum laws. This variability is transmitted in the cell population, increasing overall viability and reproduction efficiency. Changes modify the external environment. Thus, constant changes occur in nature that are currently studied at the intersection of quantum physics and biology.

Today's investigations of our living world are already possible at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. All that is needed is for biologists and physicists to begin joint research of quantum mechanisms in yeast cells using high-precision photon detectors. Our colleagues abroad currently carry out such investigations.

This article is dedicated to Nikolay Timofeev-Resovsky that was a participant in the Bohr seminars and a friend of Niels Bohr and other physicists. Hence his research on the nature of gene mutations, radiobiology, radioecology and evolution. In 2025, we will celebrate the 125th anniversary of Nikolay Timofeev-Resovsky's birth.

Viktoriya KOROGODINA, senior researcher at LRB