Can Quantum Theory Concepts Shed
Light on Biological Evolution Processes?
Jean Maruani
Abstract The Lamarckian theory of biological evolution assumed that changes
induced by the environment on what we now call a ‘phenotype’ could be transferred to its ‘genotype’, while the Darwinian theory was based on natural and sexual
selection of those ‘genotypes’ that showed up in fit ‘phenotypes’. Darwinian mechanisms have proven rather efficient in explaining microevolution processes, but not
sufficient for understanding macroevolution, speciation and radiation, which involve
highly coordinated, structural and functional biological changes. The fact that the
nucleic acids bearing the genetic material are amenable to quantum theory, as foreseen by Schrödinger, raises the question as to whether the physico-chemical internal
dynamics of these biomolecules over extended time scales could not play a crucial
role in these coordinated changes. As wave mechanics took its roots in de Broglie’s
analysis of the Maupertuis and Fermat extremum integral principles, one may go
further and wonder if a similar formulation involving also an extremum integral
principle may not be derived for biological evolution as well, which would make
its traditional finalist flavour compatible with the modern determinist views. The
present paper is a recollection of these ideas aimed at a possible formulation of a
quantum theory of biological evolution.
Keywords Quantum theory · Biological evolution · Lamarck · Darwin ·
Complexity · Fitness · Entropy · Natural selection · Sexual selection ·
Microevolution · Macroevolution · Phenotype · Genotype · Nucleic acids ·
Proteins · Descartes · Fermat · Lagrange · Hamilton · Maupertuis · Huygens ·
de Broglie · Schrödinger · Feynman · Derivative · Integral · Determinist ·
Finalist · Wave interference · Extremum principle · Intelligent design
J. Maruani (B)
Laboratoire de Chimie Physique - Matière et Rayonnement, CNRS & UPMC, 4 Place Jussieu,
75005 Paris, France
e-mail: jean.maruani@upmc.fr
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
L. Mammino et al. (eds.), Advances in Quantum Systems in Chemistry,
Physics, and Biology, Progress in Theoretical Chemistry and Physics 32,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34941-7_16
437
Light on Biological Evolution Processes?
Jean Maruani
Abstract The Lamarckian theory of biological evolution assumed that changes
induced by the environment on what we now call a ‘phenotype’ could be transferred to its ‘genotype’, while the Darwinian theory was based on natural and sexual
selection of those ‘genotypes’ that showed up in fit ‘phenotypes’. Darwinian mechanisms have proven rather efficient in explaining microevolution processes, but not
sufficient for understanding macroevolution, speciation and radiation, which involve
highly coordinated, structural and functional biological changes. The fact that the
nucleic acids bearing the genetic material are amenable to quantum theory, as foreseen by Schrödinger, raises the question as to whether the physico-chemical internal
dynamics of these biomolecules over extended time scales could not play a crucial
role in these coordinated changes. As wave mechanics took its roots in de Broglie’s
analysis of the Maupertuis and Fermat extremum integral principles, one may go
further and wonder if a similar formulation involving also an extremum integral
principle may not be derived for biological evolution as well, which would make
its traditional finalist flavour compatible with the modern determinist views. The
present paper is a recollection of these ideas aimed at a possible formulation of a
quantum theory of biological evolution.
Keywords Quantum theory · Biological evolution · Lamarck · Darwin ·
Complexity · Fitness · Entropy · Natural selection · Sexual selection ·
Microevolution · Macroevolution · Phenotype · Genotype · Nucleic acids ·
Proteins · Descartes · Fermat · Lagrange · Hamilton · Maupertuis · Huygens ·
de Broglie · Schrödinger · Feynman · Derivative · Integral · Determinist ·
Finalist · Wave interference · Extremum principle · Intelligent design
J. Maruani (B)
Laboratoire de Chimie Physique - Matière et Rayonnement, CNRS & UPMC, 4 Place Jussieu,
75005 Paris, France
e-mail: jean.maruani@upmc.fr
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
L. Mammino et al. (eds.), Advances in Quantum Systems in Chemistry,
Physics, and Biology, Progress in Theoretical Chemistry and Physics 32,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34941-7_16
437