Quantum Qi?

[sophiaserpentia]

In this 1997 article, Stuart Hameroff describes a notion he calls "quantum vitalism," or the emerging idea that some form of "vitalic energy" or "qi" does exist and can be accounted for with quantum mechanics.

[F]unctional descriptions fail to capture an essential self-organizing "unitary oneness" present in living systems. To nineteenth-century biologists this quality was ascribed to a "life force," "elan vital," or energy field. ... In modern reductionist science the notion of a life force, energy or information field has remained almost taboo. However, a new wrinkle has recently appeared. ... In "quantum vitalism," life is intimately linked to self-organizing processes at the most basic level of the universe.

Is such a drastic leap necessary? What's wrong with functionalism? To begin, mysteries about life persist in the face of reductionist science.

One mystery of living systems remains the protein folding problem. Despite knowledge of complete sequence and properties of each amino acid in a particular protein, the protein's folding and consequent shape and function cannot be predicted. Some noncomputable feature may be involved. A related mystery is how, once folded, a protein's dynamic, conformational states are regulated.

Another mystery relates to differentiation. All cells in our bodies have a complete set of genes, but each cell is specialized according to which particular subset of genes is expressed. This process of developing the particular morphological and functional state of a cell or tissue -- what makes a muscle cell a muscle cell, and a gland a gland -- is called differentiation. ...

How is differentiation regulated? Evidence suggests that differentiation in cells and tissues is maintained by communicative energy/information from neighboring cells. If cells are removed from their natural habitat in a living organism, their state of differentiation and function is lost: they "de-differentiate" to primitive stem cells. To maintain normal differentiation, cells continuously receive coordinated signals ("trophic factors") via molecules secreted by other cells which bind to membrane receptors (for example, hormones, cytokines) and also by mechanisms that involve direct communication with adjacent cells.

... In both types of direct connections, cells yield individual autonomy and become integrated into tissues and organs displaying "unitary oneness." The integration appears at least partially mediated by information represented by dynamical conformational states of membrane proteins, cytoskeleton, and extracellular matrix. Exactly how individual proteins regulate their conformational states is unknown; however, several proposals suggest the states hinge on delicate quantum effects in protein interiors.

... [L]arge collections of quantum particle/waves can merge into unitary coherent states of macroscopic size and influence. Superconductors, Bose-Einstein condensates, and lasers are technological examples. Bose-Einstein condensates are coherent states of matter in which component atoms or molecules share a common quantum wave function, giving up their individual identity and behavior. Such unitary quantum coherence among biomolecules may "bind" cellular and tissue-level activities into a common living state.

... [P]rotein conformation can in principle "superpose", that is assume two or more conformations simultaneously. ... Roger Penrose (1989, 1994) reasons that such separation stems from superposition of underlying space-time geometry. A small patch of reality actually separates slightly into two or more small patches! Since, according to Einstein's relativity, mass is actually curvature in space-time, Penrose considers superposition as simultaneous curvature in opposite directions -- a separation, or bubble in the basic makeup of the universe.

Comments

[alobar.livejournal.com]

No time to read the rather dense article right now. But the premise does not surprise me.

[soulsong.livejournal.com]

I might understand that better if I took some acid ;)

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

The two-bit summary of the above, is that certain quantum properties explain how molecules inside of cells might interact in "holistic" ways. This synergetic cooperation could be thought of as "vital force" and might correspond to what martial artists call "qi."