Kurian, founding director of the Quantum Biology Laboratory (QBL), has published a new study in *Science Advances* that establishes a revised upper boundary on how much information carbon-based life could have processed throughout Earth's history. Grounded in the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics and rooted in QBL's earlier discovery of quantum-optical behavior in cytoskeletal protein filaments, the study proposes a possible equivalence between the information-processing power of life on Earth and the entire observable universe.
"This work connects the dots among the great pillars of twentieth century physics---thermodynamics, relativity, and quantum mechanics---for a major paradigm shift across the biological sciences, investigating the feasibility and implications of quantum information processing in wetware at ambient temperatures," said Kurian.
The breakthrough stems from QBL's earlier identification of quantum effects persisting in warm, disordered biological environments, which traditionally were considered too noisy for such phenomena. In particular, Kurian's group observed single-photon superradiance in tryptophan-rich protein filaments, offering new insights into cellular self-protection and information transmission.
Kurian's new single-author paper builds on three assumptions: the laws of quantum mechanics, the universal speed limit of light, and the matter-energy density of the cosmos. These fundamentals, combined with the experimental confirmation of quantum superradiance in living systems, reveal a potential bridge between biological processes and quantum computation. "Combined with these rather innocuous premises, the remarkable experimental confirmation of single-photon superradiance in a ubiquitous biological architecture at thermal equilibrium opens up many new lines of inquiry across quantum optics, quantum information theory, condensed matter physics, cosmology, and biophysics," noted Professor Marco Pettini of Aix-Marseille University.
The amino acid tryptophan plays a pivotal role in this model. Present in various cellular components, it can absorb harmful ultraviolet photons generated by oxidative stress and re-emit them at lower, less damaging energies. When organized in large structures such as microtubules and amyloid fibrils, networks of tryptophan exhibit enhanced efficiency due to quantum coherence. These findings suggest that eukaryotic cells might use these quantum optical effects to process information far faster than traditional electrochemical methods.
Whereas classical biochemical signaling takes milliseconds, these quantum processes occur in picoseconds. Kurian proposes that such rapid, high-fidelity information transfer could be the foundation of biological quantum computing. "Quantum biology---in particular our observations of superradiant signatures from standard protein spectroscopy methods, guided by his theory---has the potential to open new vistas for understanding the evolution of living systems, in light of photophysics," said Professor Majed Chergui of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.
The implications extend beyond neurons. Aneural life forms like plants, fungi, and microbes, which dominate Earth's biomass, could be carrying out quantum-level computations on a vast scale. Their long evolutionary history suggests that they represent the majority of biological computation that has occurred on the planet.
"There are signatures in the interstellar media and on interplanetary asteroids of similar quantum emitters, which may be precursors to eukaryotic life's computational advantage," said Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona. "Kurian's predictions provide quantitative bounds, beyond the colloquial Drake equation, on how superradiant living systems enhance planetary computing capacity."
Quantum technology researchers are also paying attention. The fact that fragile quantum phenomena can survive in biological systems under ambient conditions intrigues those working on improving the resilience of quantum computers. "These new performance comparisons will be of interest to the large community of researchers in open quantum systems and quantum technology," commented Professor Nicolo Defenu of ETH Zurich.
Kurian's framework combines thermodynamic reasoning with a quantum information perspective, extending the insights of earlier physicists into how life might use physical law to perform complex computations. His team's identification of tryptophan-based qubits suggests that biology may already utilize advanced error-correcting strategies to maintain quantum coherence.
Seth Lloyd, a quantum physicist at MIT, praised the study's ambition: "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."
Kurian reflected on the broader implications: "In the era of artificial intelligences and quantum computers, it is important to remember that physical laws restrict all their behaviors. And yet, though these stringent physical limits also apply to life's ability to track, observe, know, and simulate parts of the universe, we can still explore and make sense of the brilliant order within it, as the cosmic story unfolds. It's awe-inspiring that we get to play such a role."
Research Report:Computational Capacity of Life in Relation to the Universe
Related Links
Quantum Biology Laboratory at Howard University
Understanding Time and Space
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