paper:doi-10-1186-1745-6150-3-15Erwin Schroedinger, Francis Crick and epigenetic stability
Original abstract (expand)
Schroedinger's book 'What is Life?' is widely credited for having played a crucial role in development of molecular and cellular biology. My essay revisits the issues raised by this book from the modern perspective of epigenetics and systems biology. I contrast two classes of potential mechanisms of epigenetic stability: 'epigenetic templating' and 'systems biology' approaches, and consider them from the point of view expressed by Schroedinger. I also discuss how quantum entanglement, a nonclassical feature of quantum mechanics, can help to address the 'problem of small numbers' that led Schroedinger to promote the idea of a molecular code-script for explaining the stability of biological order.
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- 2021-11-09_dorian_schrodinger-life.pdf_c3c4f5
Quantum mechanics, not Newtonian or statistical mechanics, is the necessary and sufficient physical foundation for the structural stability and heritable variability that make biological life possible