Overwhelm or amplify? The propagation of quantum advantage through biological complexity

Quantum sensing uses properties like superposition and entanglement to probe with remarkable sensitivity the properties of a system or its environment. It seems likely that some natural systems have evolved to exploit quantum sensing to help organisms derive information about their ambient conditions. There is also increasing interest in exploiting potential ‘quantum advantage’ in sensing and imaging of biological systems, including in medical diagnostics. There is much debate, however, about how (or even whether) the often weak signals survive complex and noisy biological environments. I will discuss strategies for investigating how any supposed quantum advantage might propagate through a biological system and how nature might have evolved to amplify weak signals.