The latest research from Howard University's Quantum Biology Laboratory has overturned traditional perceptions, confirming that protein structures rich in tryptophan in the human brain are capable of natural quantum computing. This discovery suggests that biological systems not only maintain quantum effects in warm and noisy environments but may also use these effects for information processing that surpasses traditional biological methods.

Quantum Miracles in Warm Environments

Traditional quantum theory holds that quantum behavior can only exist in extremely cold and quiet environments. Existing quantum computers must be kept at temperatures lower than outer space to avoid interference, and heat and noise at room temperature typically disrupt the fragile conditions required for quantum effects. This made most scientists believe that quantum effects could not exist in the warm and noisy environment of the human body.

However, the research team led by Philip Kurian found startling evidence: quantum behavior not only exists in biological systems but may also be a fundamental element of life itself. The study shows that dense networks of tryptophan molecules—packaged within structures such as microtubules, centrioles, and neuronal bundles—can operate like quantum optical devices.

These networks not only carry light energy but manage it in a way similar to high-tech quantum systems, all occurring inside living matter. The study results were published in the journal Science Advances, revealing that superradiance phenomena can occur in warm biological tissues, not just in cold atomic systems.

Professor Majed Chergui from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne led the experimental team, explaining, "We used standard protein spectroscopy methods, guided by theoretical collaborators, to confirm the astonishing features of superradiance in micrometer-scale biological systems."

The Unique Mechanism of Biological Quantum Networks

Tryptophan, a special amino acid, has a unique indole ring structure that makes it particularly adept at absorbing ultraviolet light. It also exhibits a strong Stokes shift fluorescence property, meaning the light it emits is clearly separated in color from the light it absorbs. These properties make it an ideal tool for studying protein behavior in the laboratory.

More importantly, tryptophan is naturally present in key locations within biological systems, especially at the water-lipid interface of cell membranes. It is found in transmembrane proteins, photoreceptors, hemoglobin, and particularly in complex cytoskeletal structures within cells, including microtubules and centrioles that help with cell division, shape change, and movement.

Kurian's team studied these medium-scale networks containing over 100,000 tryptophan molecules and found they often exhibit collective optical responses. The more ordered the structure, the stronger the quantum effect. Even when introducing disorder, these effects remain present at normal biological temperatures.

When cells undergo aerobic respiration, free radicals or reactive oxygen species are produced, which are unstable particles that emit high-energy ultraviolet photons, damaging DNA and other important molecules. Tryptophan networks act as a natural barrier, absorbing harmful light and re-emitting it at a lower energy level, reducing damage. Due to the superradiance effect, they perform this protective function much faster and more efficiently than individual molecules.

A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Information Processing

This speed may have even greater significance in the brain. Traditional neuroscience models suggest that information is transmitted between neurons through chemical signals, taking milliseconds to complete. However, Kurian's research found that superradiance signal transmission occurs on a picosecond scale—about a billion times faster than traditional methods.

In a previous study published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry, Kurian's team found that these signals may allow cells to share information at speeds and scales that traditional models cannot explain. They may transmit light-based data through tissues, achieving a new level of biological computing, similar to fiber optic cables.

Kurian conducted a bold calculation: based on the laws of quantum mechanics, the speed of light, and the density of cosmic matter, he estimated the amount of information that Earth's life may have processed since its origin. The results showed that the information processing capabilities of life driven by quantum-enhanced structures like tryptophan networks could rival the information processing capacity of all known matter in the observable universe.

Structures rich in tryptophan within cells may not only protect you—they may be computing at quantum speed. (Image source: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

This discovery echoes the question posed by physicist Erwin Schrödinger in his 1944 book What Is Life?: Is there something deeper than chemistry that governs biological systems? Kurian's work now offers a possible answer.

Professor Seth Lloyd, a pioneer in quantum computing at MIT, gave high praise to this research: "It is meaningful to remind us that the computations performed by biological systems are far more powerful than artificial ones."

Although most studies focus on neurons, Kurian reminds us that most life on Earth is non-neural. Bacteria, plants, fungi, and single-celled organisms make up the bulk of Earth's biomass, and these biological systems may utilize tryptophan networks and quantum effects as efficiently as the brain does.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7533546795830395446/

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