ArticleScience advances2021
Do photosynthetic complexes use quantum coherence to increase their efficiency? Probably not.
Article in Science advances, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quantum coherent dynamics in allophycocyanin trimer complex.Science advances · 2026Article
- Quantum biology: From mechanisms to medicine.Clinical and translational medicine · 2026Review
- Heat-assisted hot-hole transfer increases the surface-enhanced Raman activity of Au-TiONature communications · 2026Article
- Quantum biophysics of photosynthesis: evolutionary tuning for robust performance under natural light.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Light-Harvesting Nanomaterials Based on Dyes for Energy Transfer and Amplified Biosensing.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2025Review
- Article
- Signature of Quantum Coherence in the Exciton Energy Pathways of the LH2 Photosynthetic Complex.ACS omega · 2023Article
- Non-Markovianity between Site Pairs in FMO Complex Using Discrete-Time Quantum Jump Model.ACS omega · 2022Article
- Environment-Assisted Modulation of Heat Flux in a Bio-Inspired System Based on Collision Model.Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- UVC radiation intensity dependence of pathogen decontamination rate: semiclassical theory and experiment.European physical journal plus · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Answering the titular question has become a central motivation in the field of quantum biology, ever since the idea was raised following a series of experiments demonstrating wave-like behavior in photosynthetic complexes. Here, we report a direct evaluation of the effect of quantum coherence on the efficiency of three natural complexes. An open quantum systems approach allows us to simultaneously identify their level of "quantumness" and efficiency, under natural physiological conditions. We show that these systems reside in a mixed quantum-classical regime, characterized by dephasing-assisted transport. Yet, we find that the change in efficiency at this regime is minute at best, implying that the presence of quantum coherence does not play a substantial role in enhancing efficiency. However, in this regime, efficiency is independent of any structural parameters, suggesting that evolution may have driven natural complexes to their parameter regime to "design" their structure for other uses.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.