A Broader Perspective about Organization and Coherence in Biological Systems

Abstract

The implications of large-scale coherence in biological systems and possible links to quantum theory are only beginning to be explored. Whether quantum-like coherent phenomena are relevant, or even possible at all, at the high temperatures of biological systems remains unsettled. Here, we present a broader perspective on biological organization and how quantum-like dynamics and coherence might shape the very fabric from which complex biological systems are organized. Regardless of its exact nature, a unique form of coherence seems apparent at multiple scales in biology and its better characterization may have broad consequences for the understanding of living organisms as complex systems.

6 pages, this essay is based on a contribution to the European Conference on Complex Systems 2012 (ECCS 2012) to be published in Complex Systems Science Archive hosted by Springer Complexity