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The Birth of Quantum Biology

Posted by Zonk on from the i-am-an-exo-necro-extra-quantum-biologist dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Just when you finally have grasped the concept of quantum mechanics, it's time to wake up and to see the arrival of a nascent field named quantum biology. This is the scientific study of biological processes in terms of quantum mechanics and it uses today's high-performance computers to precisely model these processes. And this is what researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) are doing, using powerful computer models to reveal biological mechanisms. Right now, they're working on a "nanoswitch" that might be used for a variety of applications, such as targeted drug delivery to sensors."

9 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Uncertainty principle and medicine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, when I am seriously ill and get quantum biology based medication, will I be in a superposition state of 'getting better' and 'dead'?

  2. Doesn't work by Intron · · Score: 5, Funny

    I tried firing hundreds of cats through two narrow slits and I didn't get interference patterns.

    --
    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
    1. Re:Doesn't work by spun · · Score: 4, Funny

      Check your data and methodology. I've found that when the distance seperating the two slits is less than one cat-length, a single cat fired at the slits can interfere with itself, as evidenced by the distinctive banding in the blood spatters. Of course, if the slits are further than one cat-length apart, no interference patterns appear. Then all you get is a cat-ass-trophy.

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  3. Very funny... by xENoLocO · · Score: 2, Funny

    Isn't this just a geeky way of saying "small anatomy" ?

    If that's the case, I invented this 26 years ago!

    --
    "The need to build the internet comes from something inside us, something programmed... something we can't resist."
  4. Re:Did someone say Quantum Biology? by JeanPaulBob · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just doesn't carry the same sex-appeal as Quantum Physics.

    Same-sex appeal? I didn't know quantum physicists were mostly gay...

  5. Re:Did someone say Quantum Biology? by metlin · · Score: 4, Funny

    Same-sex appeal? I didn't know quantum physicists were mostly gay...

    Oh, they are just not sure - nobody's opened the closet yet to find out. =)

  6. Re:Did someone say Quantum Biology? by PitaBred · · Score: 1, Funny

    If they did open the closet, did it stop existing? Or did they just find out it was really dead all along?

    --
    My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
  7. Re:Did someone say Quantum Biology? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    If someone opened the closet to observe the physicists' sexuality, would that observation change the outcome?

  8. Schrodengers Closet? by Lord+Prox · · Score: 3, Funny

    If someone opened the closet to observe the physicists' sexuality, would that observation change the outcome?

    No, it will not change the outcome. While the biologist is still in the closet unobserved they are both straight and gay at the same time. Note: this is different than bi, this is poly-phasic probabilistic sexuality. Only when the biologist is dragged out of the closet and observed will the quantum wave function collapse into a determined outcome.

    This also begs for a joke about "entanglement" that I am going to pass on.