QUANTUM COHERENCE AND DYNAMICS IN BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES: MOLECULAR ISOMERIZATION IN VISON
Abstract
The role of nontrivial quantum effects in biological processes is explored via studies of a generic molecular mechanism. Specifically, a wide variety of processes in nature occur in response to irradiation with light, such as vision in mammals and the metabolic conversion of light to energy in microorganisms. Significantly, under pulsed laser excitation, the first step in many of these processes is the ultrafast structural transformation of light-absorbing molecules like retinal in vision, retinoic acid in cell biological differentiation, channel rhodopsins in optogenetics, and proteorhodopsin as a light driven proton pump. By contrast, natural excitation occurs in incoherent light, where the process is stationary. We propose a systematic series of studies designed to explore and expose the role of quantum mechanics in biological processes with a focus on the promising first steps in vision, cis-trans isomerization of retinal in rhodopsin. Most significantly, visual transduction in natural incoherent light will be properly treated as a transport process, a unique fundamental perspective. State-of-the-art theory and computational methods will be implemented to target a number of issues where nontrivial quantum effects in vision may be most pronounced. General principles will be sought in order to apply the results to the wider class of isomerization-based biological processes noted above. Developments in theoretical/computational chemistry, coupled with the results of a series of recent laser experiments, bode well for significant progress in understanding the molecular basis of animal vision and the associated role of quantum mechanics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2021
- Source ID
- FA95502010354
Entities
People
- Paul Brumer
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Toronto