The Quantum Biology DAO is a non-profit that supports the field with community building, governance tokens and an open competition for research grants.
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This Thursday, QBI’s Quantum Unbound series continues with a class on Quantum Biology and Health, led by Dr. Venkatesh Sridharan, Dr. Douglas Brash, and Dr. Karolina Okła.
Free and open to anyone interested in learning more >> bit.ly/QBI-Q2-Class-2
Next Thursday, Quantum Unbound continues with Class 3: Quantum Biology and Health, led by Dr. Venkatesh Sridharan. The class is free and open to anyone, anywhere. Register here: bit.ly/QBI-Q2-Class-2
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Earth's magnetic field is incredibly weak (about 50 microtesla).
A refrigerator magnet is much stronger. An MRI scanner is tens of thousands of times stronger.
From a classical perspective, fields this weak shouldn't have enough energy to significantly influence biological chemistry.
There's a related concept in biophysics called the thermal noise problem. The molecules inside your body are constantly being jostled around by thermal energy. Any effect produced by an extremely weak magnetic field should, in theory, be overwhelmed by that background activity.
And yet, for over fifty years, researchers have reported biological responses to weak magnetic fields across organisms throughout the tree of life. Studies have suggested effects on ion channels, oxidative stress, DNA repair, and cellular growth.
The mystery isn't that magnetic fields affect biology. The mystery is why such weak magnetic fields seem capable of doing it at all.
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🎉 We’ve passed 1,000 subscribers on the Quantum Biology DAO's YouTube channel!
It’s been amazing to see more people discovering quantum biology, following the research, and getting curious about where this field could go.
Let’s keep growing the quantum biology community. Subscribe, share it with someone who might be interested, and come connect with us!
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Here's a link to our channel >> piped.video/@QuantumBioDAO
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2/ Here's a link to our channel >> piped.video/@QuantumBioDAO
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Space habitats are designed around the conditions life needs. Could magnetic fields be one of them?
Long-duration spaceflight requires us to think carefully about radiation, atmosphere, temperature, and other environmental conditions that change when we leave Earth.
Magnetic fields may be another factor worth understanding.
Life evolved continuously exposed to Earth’s weak magnetic field. Research has found that changing weak magnetic-field conditions can affect biological processes including cell proliferation, oxidative stress, ion channel function, and DNA repair.
The mechanism behind these effects is where quantum biology becomes particularly interesting. Spin-dependent chemical reactions are one mechanism being investigated to explain how biological systems could respond to such weak fields.
Imagine a future where humans spend years, or eventually generations, beyond Earth. Keeping people healthy, growing food, and supporting reproduction would require understanding which parts of Earth’s environment our biology has adapted to over billions of years.
If weak magnetic fields are one of those conditions, understanding their effects could change how we think about designing environments for life beyond Earth.
Maybe leaving Earth is not only about protecting ourselves from what is out there... it may also be about understanding what we have been relying on here.
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Our recent video looks into space and other future applications of quantum biology. Check it out if you so please! piped.video/DPQF80hEcu0?si=W4ax…
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Should one “no” be the end of a research idea?
Scientists often rely on a small number of funding routes to get their work off the ground. If a project does not fit what one funder is looking for, it can be hard to move forward, even if the idea is worth testing.
That’s why alternative funding matters.
Things like philanthropy, crowdfunding, research prizes, private investment, and DeSci can give researchers more ways to find support.
The point is not to replace traditional grants.
It’s to make sure there is more than one way to get a yes.
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The science of quantum biology is one thing. The bigger question is what we may eventually be able to do with it.
In our latest video, we take a high-level look at where quantum biology could eventually intersect with areas like healthcare, drug development, biomanufacturing, space exploration, AI, and quantum technology.
As researchers get better at measuring and understanding quantum effects in living systems, the range of potential applications could grow significantly.
Watch the full video here: piped.video/DPQF80hEcu0
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Class #2 is in 15 minutes! Not too late to join :)
Update! This class has been moved to next week and at this time, we will be joined by Clarice Aiello! bit.ly/QBI-Q2-Class-3
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What if biology is missing part of the picture?
Quantum biology asks whether some processes in living systems depend on quantum effects, the same physics that governs electrons and atoms.
For a long time, this seemed unlikely. Quantum effects are notoriously delicate, while living systems are warm, wet, and constantly in motion.
And yet, biology keeps giving us reasons to look more closely.
Studies have found that weak magnetic fields can influence processes including oxidative stress, DNA repair, ion channels, and cell growth.
One possible mechanism is the radical pair mechanism, where the quantum behavior of electrons can alter the course of a chemical reaction.
That could matter because electron chemistry sits behind many processes essential to life, from energy production and metabolism to cellular signaling.
We still have a great deal to understand. But if quantum effects really do play a meaningful role in these systems, they may give us a new way of looking at health, disease, and life itself.
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2 days away! Come learn from @ClariceDAiello on quantum biology and space! 🚀
Link to register >> bit.ly/QBI-Q2-Class-3
Open to anyone!
Update! This class has been moved to next week and at this time, we will be joined by Clarice Aiello! bit.ly/QBI-Q2-Class-3
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Quantum biology has deeper roots than you might think.
Take Erwin Schrödinger...
By 1944, he had already won a Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics. Then he turned his attention to a different problem: life. In "What Is Life?", Schrödinger asked how living organisms maintain order and how hereditary information could be stored at the molecular level.
The book helped inspire a generation of scientists to look at biology through the lens of physics. That same curiosity is still driving the field today.
What quantum effects are happening inside cells? How do weak magnetic fields interact with biology? What could we discover with better ways to observe and manipulate these systems?
More researchers are asking these questions. Better experiments are becoming possible. And more attention is flowing toward the field.
Sometimes progress starts simply because enough people decide a question is worth investigating. Let's keep building quantum biology.
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Friendly reminder - you’ve got until Friday to submit your meme!
Anyone seeing this is welcome to paticipate - just hop into our Discord and check out the contest details >> quantumbiology.community
We're hosting a meme contest!
Your meme can be about quantum biology, life in the field, the research, the terminology, trying to explain quantum biology to other people… basically, if the joke lands somewhere in the quantum biology universe, it counts.
The details:
- Anyone can enter (+ AI-generated/assisted submissions are allowed)
- Your submission(s) should include a visual element, like an image, GIF, or short video
- You can submit up to 3 memes
- Community voting starts September 28
🏆 Winner gets $50, and five runner-ups get $10.
📅 Deadline: Friday, September 25 at 11:59pm PST.
To submit, join our Discord at quantumbiology.community and head to the "meme-contest" channel.
Full details are there + feel free to DM if you have questions 🫡
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Let's talk about Tubulin. Tubulin helps your cells divide, organize, transport materials, and respond to change. It is the building block of microtubules, one of the cell's most important structural systems.
But we're raising another question: could some of the physics happening within these structures involve quantum effects?
Thread below ⬇️
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4/ The Overlooked Factor
Cell biology is usually described through chemistry, but cells are also physical and electrical systems.
Tubulin combines organized molecular structure, electric dipoles, aromatic amino acid networks, and constant interaction with its surrounding environment.
That combination makes microtubules an intriguing experimental system for asking where classical biology ends and functionally relevant quantum behavior might begin.
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5/ Why It Matters
If quantum effects within microtubules are shown to influence biological function, they could reveal an additional layer of intracellular physics.
For now, the evidence gives us something equally valuable: experimentally testable questions about how energy, charge, and information move through highly organized protein structures.
Tubulin reminds us that understanding the cell may require studying not only its chemistry, but the physics happening within it.
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