Possibilities, past and present of science, society and nature through the Eyes of a learner.

Unlocking the Quantum Edge in Enzyme Catalysis: Navigating Energy Obstacles through Tunnelling: Enzymes, essential catalysts driving countless vital chemical reactions within organisms, rely on the formation of an "enzyme-substrate complex" as a cornerstone of their exceptional efficiency. This complex serves as an impeccably engineered reaction chamber, bringing substrates into close proximity and ideal orientation for chemical transformations. Despite these optimal conditions, certain reactions encounter a challenge: an energy barrier separating reactants from products. Traditionally, particles must possess adequate kinetic energy to surmount this obstacle and progress the reaction. Enter the captivating realm of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics introduces the concept of wave-particle duality, wherein particles can exhibit characteristics of both waves and particles. This has profound implications for enzyme catalysis, as it permits the phenomenon of quantum tunneli...

If we describe particles by wave function; a mathematical representation of the quantum state of a system, probabilistic interpretation of wave function can explain various quantum effects, and as long as there exsits a definite phase relation between different states, the system is coherent.   "Coherence or decoherence represents a very fast process for macroscopic objects, Since these are interacting with many microscopic objects, with an enormous number of degrees of freedom. The decoherence time relies on the short-time behaviour of the fidelity between the initial and the time dependent state."     Different types of quantum processes that operate at the same time scale can interact strongly either to assist or to impede one another. Evolved biological systems exhibit the quantum Goldilocks effects (choose the most suitable, like the tale), natural selection pushes together time scales to allow quantum processes to help each other. In photosynthetic enargy trans...

Most of us are familiar with various branches of biology - like Zoology, Physiology, Microbiology,Biotechnology, Molecular biology etc; but how many of us know about “Quantum Biology”? I am also don’t know much about quantum biology, I am a biotech student,But now I am going to explore about it, you may join me too.   So, What is quantum biology? When or How quantum mechanics became part of biology?   Quantum biology is the study of biological phenomenons and problems using quantum physics and classical chemistry, in my understanding it also involves  massive understanding of molecular biology and computational biology. One of the core idea of quantum biology is ‘Everything about life can be explained in terms of the fundamental building blocks of matter and forces that connect them’.   Brief History:   The modern quantum mechanics born in between 1925-1927 when the mathematical models of quantum mechanics, like matrix mechanics developed by W. Heisenberg, Max B...

Turmeric and Viruses Turmeric, Known as ‘Golden spice’ or ‘Earthy herb of Sun’ is a perennial herbaceous plant of ginger family (Zingiberaceae). It has strong associations with sociocultural life of Indian people since vedic period, but recently, during this Covid pandemic, it gains more importance in our life because many of us believes that it can help us fighting the virus.   So, now the questions are- Is turmeric powder really anti-viral? How much do we need to take daily? Which is better to consume- Turmeric powder or Raw turmeric roots?          Lets discuss ------                   (Picture courtesy:Google) Geographical Distribution of the plant:   Many Species of curcumin are economically valuable, the most important being Curcuma longa , k nown as turmeric commercially. The greatest diversity of the species occurs in India, Mayanmer, and Thailand and extends to Korea, China, Australia...