Rosen and Pattee on Theoretical Biology

Transversal, 2018

We discuss a less known aspect of Feynman's multifaceted scientific work, centered about his interest in molecular biology, which came out around 1959 and lasted for several years. After a quick historical reconstruction about the birth of molecular biology, we focus on Feynman's work on genetics with Robert S. Edgar in the laboratory of Max Delbruck, which was later quoted by Francis Crick and others in relevant papers, as well as in Feynman's lectures given at the Hughes Aircraft Company on biology, organic chemistry and microbiology, whose notes taken by the attendee John Neer are available. An intriguing perspective comes out about one of the most interesting scientists of the XX century.

Acta Biotheoretica, 1987

The potential and realized biology are briefly discussed.

European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2019

This paper offers a contribution to debates around integrative aspects of systems biology and engages with issues related to the circumstances under which physicists look at biological problems. We use oral history as one of the methodological tools to gather the empirical material, conducting interviews with physicists working in systems biology. The interviews were conducted at several institutions in Brazil, Germany, Israel and the U.S. Biological research has been increasingly dependent on computational methods, high-throughput technologies, and multidisciplinary skills. Quantitative scientists are joining biological departments and collaborations between physicists and biologists are particularly vigorous. This state of affairs raises a number of questions, such as: What are the circumstances under which physicists approach biological problems in systems biology? What kind of interdisciplinary challenges must be tackled? The paper suggests that, concerning physicists' move to work on biological systems, there are common reasons to move, the transition must be understood in terms of degrees, physicists have a rationale for simplifying systems, and distinct conceptions of model and modeling strategies are recurrent. We identified problems regarding linguistic clarity and integration of epistemological aims. We conclude that cultural unconformities within the systems biology community have important consequences to the flow of scientific knowledge.

2015

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".

2007

A critical assessment of the recent developments of molecular biology is presented. The thesis that they do not lead to a conceptual understanding of life and biological systems is defended. Maturana and Varela's concept of autopoiesis is briefly sketched and its logical circularity avoided by postulating the existence of underlying living processes, entailing amplification from the microscopic to the macroscopic scale, with increasing complexity in the passage from one scale to the other. Following such a line of thought, the currently accepted model of condensed matter, which is based on electrostatics and short-ranged forces, is criticized. It is suggested that the correct interpretation of quantum dispersion forces (van der Waals, hydrogen bonding, and so on) as quantum coherence effects hints at the necessity of including long-ranged forces (or mechanisms for them) in condensed matter theories of biological processes. Some quantum effects in biology are reviewed and quantum mechanics is acknowledged as conceptually important to biology since without it most (if not all) of the biological structures and signalling processes would not even exist. Moreover, it is suggested that long-range quantum coherent dynamics, including electron polarization, may be invoked to explain signal amplification process in biological systems in general.

BioSystems, 2022

Quantum stochasticity carries two incompatible implications. One is for the statistical divergence upon the prior absence of complete controllability over boundary conditions applied to mechanistic causation. One more alternative is for the statistical convergence upon the posterior decidability of measurement despite the absence of the prior decidability. Decidable measurement lacking the prior decidability is retrocausal. The quantum physical likelihood for the life world may derive from the statistical convergence proceeding in a durable manner. This observation suggests that there must have been some type of observers even internal to the lifeless world, otherwise no likelihood of identifying the objects of interest could be available there. Measurement activity intrinsic to the internal observers is indexical, while the similar activity specific to the external observer like us can be symbolic. The difference is in the phenomenological qualification since both are the observers of different types. A most conspicuous case demonstrating the phenomenological difference is revealed in the different nature of time to be employed and experienced there. Time serves as a principal attribute qualifying the phenomenon to be experienced as such. Qualification of time is observer dependent.

Fluctuation and Noise Letters, 2008

Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

Quantum biology is usually considered to be a new discipline, arising from recent research that suggests that biological phenomena such as photosynthesis, enzyme catalysis, avian navigation or olfaction may not only operate within the bounds of classical physics but also make use of a number of the non-trivial features of quantum mechanics, such as coherence, tunnelling and, perhaps, entanglement. However, although the most significant findings have emerged in the past two decades, the roots of quantum biology go much deeper—to the quantum pioneers of the early twentieth century. We will argue that some of the insights provided by these pioneering physicists remain relevant to our understanding of quantum biology today.

2020

This article explores the role of quantum mechanics in biological processes. In order to do that, it examines two case studies: DNA mutations and photosynthesis.