September 12, 2025
In a recent collaboration with William Parson at the University of Washington, the team found rates of protein fluctuation a million-fold slower than the electrons, identifying that the electrons were ‘surfing’ a wave rather than ‘hopping’ like particles.
“We once thought of electrons conforming to classic Newtonian laws – just like a tennis ball will keep bouncing and always come back. Instead, we witnessed electrons behaving like an energy wave with the ability to travel rapidly through material coherently, even at room temperatures.
The findings are thought to be among the first to observe quantum mechanics in respiration, with significant implications for the field of quantum sensing and computation.
“With the exception of processes like photosynthesis, where sunlight moves very rapidly but over a very short distance, the common wisdom is that the biological world is a very noisy and hostile environment that effectively destroys any quantum effect,” said Malvankar. “Generally, we don’t think of quantum mechanics in biology, so this is a big surprise.”
“There’s a lot of interest in quantum computers because they can store and process huge amounts of data. But this requires electrons to communicate with each other, and currently this can only happen at temperatures down to minus 500 degrees Fahrenheit, which is expensive.”
But nature often has very simple solutions to complex problems.
“In these bacteria, we are measuring quantum effects at room temperature. If we can learn lessons from nature itself, merging what we know about quantum mechanics and biology, we can start to apply the same principles to make the next leap for quantum computers.”
Authored by William Parson, University of Washington, former Yale PhD student Peter Dahl, and Malvankar, the findings were published as a cover article in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.