Discover
/
Article

Where physics meets biology: More information

FEB 01, 2021
Julian Ting

In his article “Does new physics lurk inside living matter?” (Physics Today, August 2020, page 34 ), Paul Davies mentions many interesting phenomena in biology, including epigenetic influence in two-headed worms. I agree that such information might be important to both physics and biology. 1

As I finished reading, I realized the article is advocating quantum biology. Davies cites a claim made by researchers in 2015 “that many biologically important molecules, such as sucrose and vitamin D3, have unique electron-conductance properties associated with the critical transition point between an insulator and a disordered metal conductor.”

What I do not know is this: How could bulk material properties such as electron conductance be defined at the molecular level? In my opinion, geometry will be more important than material properties at that level.

References

  1. 1. J. J.-L. Ting, J. Appl. Phys. 125, 155702 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5088852

More about the authors

Julian Ting, (juhilian@gmail.com) De-Font Institute for Advanced Studies, Taichung, Taiwan.

Related Topics
Related content
/
Article
/
Article
/
Article
/
Article
This Content Appeared In
pt_cover0221_no_label.jpg

Volume 74, Number 2

Get PT in your inbox

pt_newsletter_card_blue.png
PT The Week in Physics

A collection of PT's content from the previous week delivered every Monday.

pt_newsletter_card_darkblue.png
PT New Issue Alert

Be notified about the new issue with links to highlights and the full TOC.

pt_newsletter_card_pink.png
PT Webinars & White Papers

The latest webinars, white papers and other informational resources.

By signing up you agree to allow AIP to send you email newsletters. You further agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.