An Introduction to Quantum Biology - with Philip Ball

What is quantum biology? Philip Ball explains how strange quantum effects take place in the messy world of biology, and how these are behind familiar biological phenomena such as smell, enzymes and bird's migration.
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In this guest curated event on quantum biology, Jim Al-Khalili invited Philip Ball to introduce how the mysteries of quantum theory might manifest themselves at the biological level. Here he explains how the baffling yet powerful theory of the baffling yet powerful theory of the subatomic world might play an important role in biological processes.
Philip Ball is a science writer, writing regularly for Nature and having contributed to publications ranging from New Scientist to the New York Times. He is the author of many popular books on science, including works on the nature of water, pattern formation in the natural world, colour in art, and the cognition of music, and he has also broadcast on many occasions on radio and TV.
Jim Al-Khalili is Professor of Theoretical Physics and Professor of Public Engagement in Science at University of Surrey. He is author of several popular science books and appears regularly on radio and television. In 2007, he was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for Science Communication.
This event took place at the Royal Institution on 28 January 2015.
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Philip Ball is a science writer, writing regularly for Nature and having contributed to publications ranging from New Scientist to the New York Times.
He is the author of many popular books on science, including works on the nature of water, pattern formation in the natural world, colour in art, and the cognition of music.
He has also broadcast on many occasions on radio and TV.
Download the transcript of this talk: www.philipball.co.uk/articles...
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[@mistasandman8996]

Physics and Quantum theory have become a fascination to me. I could listen to these lectures for hours... I enjoy it more than music even.

[@tmadden8245]

It is music

[@marijnmens7583]

@@tmadden8245 The heisenberg principle is like religion to me. Knowing that a law of nature is that you can not know everything is somehow comforting to me. Life is not about control, cause and effect and rigid laws at all. It is about chance and probability. I think that idea is as beautifull as beethoven's 9th is.

[@bradywells1293]

I'd recommend picking up a book (or two) by Brian Green who is a great explainer of quantum mechanics, relativity, and even string theory (circa whenever the book version was released). The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos were the two that I read and couldn't put them down when I was reading.

[@user-jh3oq7wk6s]

Yeah, it is called "midlife crisis". I have it too...

[@rayzorrayzor9000]

RE : Mista Sandman I’d say that music is fuel for the Soul , Physics and QM is fuel for the Mind, I enjoy both whilst ofcourse not forgetting my fuel for my Stomach , Fried Chicken by the bucket load lol 😂😂😂

[@rayzorrayzor9000]

“ It’s not hard to understand Quantum Theory , It’s hard to understand what Quantum Theory is telling us” WOW . . . When he said that phrase I just knew I would be glued to this lecture .

[@eldritchedward]

Well-spoken and simple enough that I'd expect anyone with a basic interest in the field to be able to follow along. That's quite an achievement on it's own.

[@erikziak1249]

Exactly my thoughts after watching this. Great video and great presenter. It is a gift to know how to talk in such a way.

[@moonglow6639]

Haha yes it is indeed ;)

[@yuanler]

Nawaf Mesad has to o

[@mrloop1530]

If you were able to follow along, I guess everybody should be.

[@BULLAKI]

Great video. I've recently had the pleasure to interview the founder of the the world's first quantum biology doctoral training centre, Prof. Jim Al-Khalili.

[@StevenCampbell1955]

What an amazing lecture. He never 'flubbed' or 'ummed' and 'arhhed' more than to take a single breath. Having read a number of Phillip Balls marvellous books with great pleasure, now I am enamoured of the man too. Thank you for posting this, TRI.

[@walkwithmeASMR]

He literally ummed and ahhd in thid first sentence. Not like it matters. Lol

[@StevenCampbell1955]

@@walkwithmeASMR Ok, I did miss more than I understood too. Perhaps I was so overcome by the end that my memory too was saturated. I bow to your better memory and recognise your higher abilities. Not to go on about it, I am made humble, a little sad for my own diminishing powers. I pass the baton of edification, like an olympic torch, still smouldering with desire, but fluttering with time's passage, with which you can forge into a new understanding bringing light to those forming on the byways merely to wave at your passing.

[@HigherSelflessness]

I love these lectures. Learning about the things science is still trying to figure out is one of the best things on youtube. The fact that I can actually understand it without getting dizzy is pretty awesome.

[@oonaghhugh7107]

I agree.. At school i couldnt relate to science of any kind ..but after reading 'Tao of Physics ' i realised creatives & artists are not a separate species to precise minded scientists. All things are connected, & the RI makes fornerly unreachable knowledge so fascinating & colorful. Its a joy to be able to access cutting edge contemporary discoveries & catch up with subjects that formerly seemed dry or irrelevant. Its such an exciting adventure. Thank you You Tube & RI.i am so grateful for your inspiration in these new fields of learning.

[@RobSinclaire]

Thank you Mr. Ball, you touch on so many points and subjects in their own right but still knit it all together!

[@juliavan4673]

What a blessing you are to us, Simon. Thank you for these updates. Much appreciated.

[@richtourist]

Superb lecture. Shewing the woo-woo out of QM. And well edited so we can see the images the speaker is talking about. Thanks RI.

[@danabee3775]

Fantastic lecture! I can not believe it is out there just like THAT! Wow! Thank you, thank you, Royal Institution for going online ... this is a bliss for me ... delicious brain food! :-)

[@virtualmoyda7221]

A beautiful mind and all.

[@clivewells7090]

Slow down soldier or you may get mindigestion! X

[@ajaz3384]

Incredible! That’s almost a book in a single easy to understand talk, thank you.

[@jeffreyharrison3731]

Interesting topic. Thank you . Would like to mention the induced-fit model is generally considered a better model of of enzyme-substrate interaction than the lock and key model. This is because the active site and the substrate are, initially, not perfect matches for each other.

[@JanAagePedersenAtHome]

Fascinating! Even strange effects of entanglement influences biological processes! Great introduction to the real impact of quantum physics on real day-to-day phenomenons! Opens up new horizons of understanding! Thanks a lot!

[@m.d.bishop1244]

That was amazing. Thank you for making it easier to wrap my head around by using so many examples.

[@bjarkifreyrbjarnason9419]

Thank you so much RI! These lectures have been a great treasure for me. A real goldmine of information. Thank you for spreading knowledge and enlightenment to all humans across the globe.

[@raadtmaarwat5781]

Spread the word... Mine rcommandation for it!

[@ValMartinIreland]

Well done, a huge effort put in and easy to follow.

[@oo88oo]

Wow. I’ve been reading this guy’s popular chemistry and biology books for a while, and they’re great. Nice surprise to find a video with him.

[@Quarky_]

It's really cool how he managed to add the caveats sensibly, starting from the doubts around "Quantum biology", to D-wave's "Quantum computer" and the many-worlds interpretation. Very well articulated talk :).

[@cellofingers]

Best explanation encountered so far. Very well done.

[@anjuk6255]

I had paused the video several times to deeply thik about it..

[@vrzrea795]

Thanks for uploading the conference.

[@thedisintegrador]

This is just astonishing how everything connects to each other.

[@DavidTJames-yq9dr]

I am not from academia, but how Ball presents and lectures makes me feel as if I have. Well done. Well done! And a tantalizing & fascinating subject. Covered, or touched on, the relative fundamentals and theories with many references to which my interests and continued educational path can flow from. Thank you for this lecture. Sincerely. I am thoroughly enjoying Ri lectures and shall seek more from Ball.

[@keyboardcorrector2340]

Thanks for the upload.

[@TheKevlar]

Quantum Biology is an exciting field for our young new minds entering academia. It reminds me of computer science in the 80's when the students knew more than the profs...

[@guerreronikelaos2838]

its so inspiring it almost made me cry, thanks

[@dr.anupamghosh4303]

Really it is amazing.... Mysteries are gradually unfolding. Nice talk and we'll elaborated. Thank you.

[@aggressivecalm]

I almost had my finger on quantum phenomena, but then its wave-function shifted!

[@SewerTapes]

This is the funniest comment I've read in a while. Thank you.

[@clivewells7090]

Haw haw.

[@TheAwillz]

All physical phenomenon are waves of varying harmonic structure.

[@brucechamberlin9666]

Terrific audio. Great job, and wonderful microphone.

[@aatt3209]

I love everything in my tiny garden even that much more after listening to this fantastic talk. I hold the Redwood forests in Northern California in dearest terms for being there for thousands of years. I don't mind at all to be "entangled" to photosynthesis.

[@gShinzei]

Extremely good presentation, very clear and detailled.

[@tarkajedi3331]

A fascinating and inspiring talk....

[@Poey12]

bravo sir, thank you for that talk!

[@wjcroft72]

Excellent. One reservation with the "bird compass" concept, is that a compass alone is not sufficient to navigate. You need a map as well. Many experiments have been done with carrier pigeons. Rupert Sheldrake has written much about this aspect.

[@Erickvazquezc]

didnt he also experimented with the pigeons blind folded?

[@k.p.3739]

If only I had the honour to sit in this seminar . I would be beyond grateful.

[@houseironblades6412]

"You have to tug it...to get it off..." *contemplative pause*

[@sudarkoff]

the clearest explanation of quantum entanglement i've ever heard!

[@marionperez6746]

"You have to tug it...to get it off..." contemplative pause

[@skroot7975]

Starts at 3:00

[@gazmasonik2411]

Thanks 🙏 that’s 3 minutes I will be able to get back after! this futile attempt to make up small amounts of space within my thought process 🥥🍏🍦...Two after writing this !!!

[@fazilat8648]

Thank you very much

[@garetr]

+

[@cucumberspy]

Philip ball is a very good science communicator!

[@zachgeisterfer8166]

A good talk and a really great thought provoking subject. He did deliver some broad-sweeping claims that I think are a bit dismissive of a lot of hard work done over the past 50 years or so.

[@ChaojianZhang]

36:37 Best intro to the subtlety of the entanglement concept!

[@ChaojianZhang]

52:50 The Many Worlds interpretation - "it's not even wrong"😆

[@manubantuh4231]

beautifully presented... I am excited to the fullest.

[@Ikbeneengeit]

Thanks for another great video!

[@hamidkavoossi4832]

Fantastic presentation.

[@rayzorrayzor9000]

Ooops I commented to quickly about Photosynthesis/Quantum Biology but I would like to say that this was a very good lecture. Lastly something worth noting is that when any speaker mentions the Quantum Wave one should note that this Wave isn’t a physical entity, it’s a mathematical wave , a way of describing what we “think” is happening , just like when educators talk about entanglement and trying to explain how this seems to suggest faster than light travel , it’s only what we “think” or our best “guess” as to what is happening . I use to believe that entangled particles were already pre determined to be in the “state” that we measure them to be BUT as I learnt more on the subject I realised that it’s no way near that simple and something is going on that we have yet to understand , that’s why Quantum Physics/Biology is such great subject, so many ideas, so many questions but so few answers, like for instance the Quantum Tunnelling Effect, this is actually predicted and seen as a “quirk” of light when it passes through different mediums, part of the light wave “tunnels” away separately from the rest of the wave , Amazing 😉

[@thedruiddiaries6378]

It's beautiful. Quantum Physics is beautiful. Quantum everything.

[@robert8124]

Very interesting knowledge and thoughts. Excellent presentations, as usual by Ri...

[@anjuk6255]

24:10 best analogy ever

[@gryffynda1]

The real-life Dr. Who! Fabulous!

[@marthareal8398]

Exactly, thank you.

[@wendellmollycheck3669]

Amazing lecture so much information on this

[@firstlast-cs6eg]

I wish the video had included the Q&A.

[@HelloConfidence]

I have no idea what he’s saying but somehow it makes me feel smart just listening.

[@QANGOR]

Every road requires a 1st step, the most important. You just made that step.

[@ambertiqueperspectives3926]

My take-away; my next band will be called 'Deuterated Oderants'. Wait...It already exists...

[@luismejiaalvarez8444]

This is insane 🤯, I love it 😻

[@sherlockholmeslives.1605]

I engaged in conversation briefly on 'Twitter' with Philip Ball. He really does seem to be a highly intelligent man!

[@frankiewally1891]

and what is the paragon you used to determine this man`s intelligence,apart from your bloated ego?

[@Skywalker21O]

I think this one is my favorite!

[@buckrogers5331]

Wow, so many ideas in one talk. Like a wonderful buffet, this one will take time to digest. ;-)

[@Hyporama]

man, this is well explained

[@mattmcclure6352]

They would have to have a common multiple (sympathetic waves not dissonance) like chords played in a piece of music to harness spin energy - that are all tuned to the same base root (nano matter's root frequency (resonant frequency of all building blocks of mass, not a large structures resonant frequency) Anything non-common multiple with leftover fractions is dissonance and won't function but rather collapse the wave. (wave cancellation) it has to align mathematically to work in chorus with spin. "sympathetic frequencies"

[@gFS.1]

15:04 the four images seem completely consistent.

[@sreyasubramanyam9152]

Thank you, seriously.

[@AA-gl1dr]

He talks about electron spin and doesn’t get into the electron transport chain that gives all life energy? Fascinating lecture.

[@felixalbger5347]

Excellent.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

Do relativistic effects, such as relativistic generalizations of the Schrodinger wave equation, have any important observable effects on biology?

[@aareebjamil8929]

Great lecture! Can't wait to see Quantum Psychology! :P

[@Quasardoom]

Trying to explain consciousness... phenomenal consciousness!

[@OEHOEH100]

Genius and amazing !!! But - proofs? Is there any progress? tnx alot 💖

[@mwm48]

Loved it.

[@space-timegambit.by-abdull4052]

Nice. Thanks P. Ball.

[@marionperez6746]

"Spooky action at a distance:" A perfect phrase for a perfectly insane idea that is perfectly sound yet makes to sense!!! QM still blows my mind and short-circuits my neurons.

[@garryblanchard4960]

‘’Spooky action at a distance:’’ A perfect phrase for a perfectly insane idea that is perfectly sound yet makes to sense!!! QM still blows my mind and short-circuits my neurons.

[@PianoGesang]

Great British humour in his final statement, luv it!

[@charleslong5373]

I have often wondered how far across a molecule Hund’s rule of maximum multiplicity prevails. There is no quantum phenomenon unless there are boundary conditions. The wave functions need to be pinned down at the boundaries. A wave can have any wavelength if there are no boundaries. We don’t know if the universe is bounded. If it is not, then the wavelength, frequency of quanta in the universe can take on any value, and are not quantized.

[@HerrBaton]

worht watching the Q&A - many more info there

[@clivewells7090]

This guy must've had a brilliant teacher! I don't think I've heard a better exposition of quantum theory, and, he explains the world of microbiology in easily comprehensible language, quite a feat when you look at the wavelength of a single quanta, which I believe is called a Planck Length and compare it to the the size of an animal, i.e. a human, or one git, that's really scientelligent.

[@jackhalfordpodcast]

bright earth is why I'm here, I think once I got into alchemy during my art degree it sparked something within me, something science smelling

[@levicoffman5146]

Ooo la la! Shots fired at the end there. I have to say, I've never seen a wave that wasn't made out of particles. The collapse of the wave functions seems more likely a problem of the limits of our language or our measuring devices.

[@rajprasad5899]

Splendid, I would say!!

[@charlesbrightman4237]

Wave-particle duality explained (?): 1) A moving electrical charge (atom or electron), generates a moving magnetic field. 2) The moving magnetic field interacts with the magnetic fields of the electrons in the atoms and molecules of the gun itself, the medium it is going through (air), and/or the perimeter of the tiny slits themselves. 3) This interaction may generate photons which are a wave. 4) The (atom or electron) with it's magnetic field can go one way and the photons, once generated, go their own way. 5) The (atom or electron) is probably still just a particle (although the basis of everything in existence could be vibrating energy waves), and photons are still just a wave.

[@mrmcbeardy9268]

what a fascinating talk!! 🙏 Namaste

[@vhaalgorn]

21:56 correction, in the thylakoid membranes in the chloroplast

[@csmith1696]

Yes, that Erwin Schrodinger chap was one cool cat. He was dead-on on his critique of quantum theory.

[@Gotovinarules]

47:18 Well this quite explain why in monocromatic green light plants have very high quantum yield of photosynthesis reffering to Mccree relative quantum yield

[@jerrybecker1628]

As a retired hs bio teacher, I feel that much of what I taught has to at the least include a little of the insights on animal physiology/behavior/development provided by quantum mechanics!

[@havenlyshamblin9033]

I also slept alot through school barely passing having to make up work all at the end.

[@tianarahaga9576]

Thanks for sharing. At some extends a better understanding of Roger Penrose question about consciousness and what is lacking in current artificial intelligence.

[@barbaraott407]

Super interesting stuff starts at ~ 30:00

[@casidyjulian]

Great lecture. Do you think it's possible that retrocausality is how "spooky action" actually works?

[@theneurologist1]

I would love to see a lecture where Ball doesn't talk from a set script of notes on paper, instead, a lecture where he just starts talking and goes on about whatever comes up in that genius mind of his! 😁

[@mikepctv9218]

This is fire.

[@zagyex]

If it turns out - and looks it does - that quantum mechanical processes indeed occur in living structures and at they are useful in information processing then from an evolutionary standpoint it would be EXTREMELY unlikely that such effects are missing from the single most complicated form of (living) structures, the human brain.

[@addhoc256]

Brains work with brainwaves that make specific neurotransmitters work better. And certain modules of the brain only work with certain neurotransmitters. That are connected to certain functions. So the brain is a modular system where there are several networks: neurocircuits that overlap. Empathy belonging connection: serotonine, long term focus: dopamine, flow focus: noradrenaline etc. A different brainwave make it switch to another modular network with different neurotransmitters and the development of a different neuro connectome if it occurs often and is used in practise. / Even more exiting: epigenetics prooves already 20 years ago that external experiences in childhood switch certain genes on or off, via epigenetics. (Kandel, nobelprize: biology- pedagogy connection (nature-nurture): goes both ways allways) / Brainplasticity takes place mostly during theta brainwaves, babies have this most of the time, adults only a few minutes a day between awake and asleep. But gamma and alfa also a bit. Beta not. Meditation is an attempt to get out of beta but just sleeping works just as well, dreaming even better. We could call it "kwantum" but the 'switch' to switch an entire gene system (genes control all the protein production, also for the brain) on or off is external. It has its effect on molecular level but the incentive is external. But it is an adaptation of the human brain to its context especially the first 5 to 7 years of life the brain is beeing custum made: wired in interaction with context and conditions. And we dont know what is first: brainwaves or different states of mind: but brainwaves are essential. And they change biology on network level as well as fysiology

[@noorzehrakazim1705]

For me this was very advanced. Can some simpler explanation be indicated? Thanks.

[@robert8124]

Very interesting. Could the two slitts be acting like the aperture of the old first cameras??? If you build a old box camera, with two apertures, will you get the same affects???

[@Dyslexic-Artist-Theory-on-Time]

Good video!!!

[@bigcountry5520]

Tunnelling is simply overlap of fields. We have so much to learn about fields. First we might try to understand how many fields are required to explain the results.

[@ileena8129]

When we can understand the conscious interaction with the particles. Since consciousness is a holographic universe, we decide in the moment

[@lazomaniac]

Could this explain how proteins fold so fast to find the lowest possible energy conformation?

[@ThomasLCJansen]

No

[@nmarbletoe8210]

plain old wobbling seems to work for protein folding, i think, at least in general. proteins are big, so harder to quantumify than electrons. (there's a quantum electron capture process in photosynthesis, pretty recent discovery)

[@m3lezgnz829]

As far as I know, protein do it in that way because they reach a more stable thermodynamical state.

[@mrsatic]

MatCalr Gonzlez Actually it is because of water molecules around proteins during protein folding by changing quantum information of dna due to H bonds

[@m3lezgnz829]

I think he's asking for proteins, not nucleic acids. From the literature i've readen (Lodish, Alberts) no one actually knows why proteins fold in that particular forms and in that way, being in fact an unsolved problem in biophysics. Change in quantum information sounds interesting by the way . Where can I find more information about?

[@JK-fn1nc]

A humble question I would like to submit to the respected Professors Jim and Phillip (if you ever come back to review this video): how does some tiny little flowers shine in blue, purple, indigo and violet colors. Presumably something inside the petals are resonating with lyrics light quanta with these higher energy states. How would you explain this effect, while most flowers display red, orange and yellow colors, and perhaps there are none with Green hues. The white flowers like Jasmin we can assume flower during the night time, to attract moths i.e. sort of nocturnal butterflies.

[@davemacmurchie6982]

Interesting presentation but marred by Ball's suggestion (23:44) that R- and S-carvone should smell the same based on their similarity in structure, particularly that this should be so based on the "lock and key" theory. The "lock and key" approach would suggest exactly the opposite, that the R- and S- enantiomers would be expected to have different interactions with macromolecular receptors, just as R- and S- amino acids do. The theory that scent distinction is based on differences in vibration actually seems to be refuted by this example, in that enantiomeric pairs generally have identical IR spectra. Vibrational circular dichroism can distinguish enantiomers, so perhaps some similar effect could be in play in the biological situation, but the differences in binding energies of R- and S- enantiomers to biological macromolecules is so pronounced that surely that is the preferred interpretation, if only based on Occam's razor.

[@bzabrisk]

Scientists: "Birds, insects, and honeybees are extraordinarily sensitive to the tiny signals from the Earth's native electromagnetic fields." Society: "Who's ready to upgrade to 5G and cover the planet with microwaves? Eh?"

[@TS-og6gf]

😂

[@menassies3224]

We already have 4G so I don’t understand the push back

[@bzabrisk]

@@menassies3224 5G = much more radiofrequency radiation

[@marcus8710]

Market demands exist in a totally different universe than scientific understanding. The public isn't educated - or concerned - enough to value caretaking to any degree.

[@perennialbeachcomber.7518]

@27:45 Spintronics and spintronic devices.