This essay investigates whether life actively exploits quantum phenomena — coherence, entanglement, tunnelling, and resistance to decoherence —for functional advantage, or if such effects are incidental. It reveals a nuanced reality: quantum mechanics is selectively harnessed where it delivers efficiency—as seen in European robins, whose cryptochrome-based navigation is disrupted by radio waves, confirming functional quantum control. Photosynthesis may exploit transient electronic coherence for near-perfect energy transfer (though debated), while enzymes like alcohol dehydrogenase rely on proton tunnelling. Olfaction operates classically; DNA experiences quantum-driven tautomerization (introducing rare mutations), while cognition remains classically governed. Crucially, quantum thermodynamics reveals how proteins delay decoherence via non-Markovian environments.
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