Quantum Computation by Biological Systems

Abstract

Most problems and limitations associated with classical computing are eliminated in quantum computing. Despite the current methods of quantum computing which have to deal with the non-secondary problem of decoherence induced by the coupling of the system with the environment, biological systems use quantum physics at high temperature and in highly noise environments. As a consequence, taking inspiration from how DNA, enzymes and other biomolecules exploit quantum properties could help us find methods of quantum computation that could bypass the problems encountered in non-biological systems. In this paper, we shortly review bio-inspired qubits systems and how endonuclease restriction enzymes exploit quantum physics to solve searching problem, i.e., the identification of small sequences (4-6 nucleotides bases) in DNA (approximately 1 million nucleotides bases) complexes and its implication in developing universal quantum gates. The possible implications for quantum computation of this restriction enzyme feature is then briefly described.