Our Conferences and Meetings

The Guy Foundation convenes meetings for scientists working in quantum biology and related fields. Lectures are recorded and available on our website here. If you are interested in finding out more, please get in touch using the Contact us page.

2022 Autumn Series
Quantum Mitochondria: energy, information and implications for health and disease

Download the programme here

Session 1 | COVID-19, mitochondria and the quantum underground
Professor James Moon, Professor of Cardiology, UCL and Clinical Director of Imaging, Barts Heart Centre
Professor Alistair Nunn, Research Centre for Optimal Health, University of Westminster and Director of Science, The Guy Foundation

Session 2 | Mitochondrial dysfunction: relevance for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and long COVID
Professor Karl Morten, Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford

Session 3 | Mitochondria and magnetic fields, spin and reactive oxygen species
Professor Clarice Aiello, Quantum Biology Tech Lab (QuBiT), UCLA
Professor Wendy Beane, Department of Biological Sciences, Western Michigan University

Session 4 | Mitochondria, bioenergetics, information and electric fields: implications for repair and regeneration
Professor Michael Levin, Allen Discovery Centre, Tufts University
Professor Wayne Frasch, Biomedicine and Biotechnology faculty group, Arizona State University

Session 5 | Mitochondria and fields: implications for space exploration
Dr Afshin Beheshti, KBR at NASA Ames Research Center

Session 6 | Roundtable meeting
Professor Douglas C Wallace, Director, Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute

2022 Spring Series
From quantum bench to bedside: how to realise the potential of quantum biology in medicine?

Download the proceedings here
Download the programme here

Session 1 | Electromagnetic fields and cancer and the therapeutic perspective
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Dr Jan Pokorný, Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Professor Steve Wedge, Professor of Stratified Cancer Medicine Discovery at Newcastle University and Head of the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Newcastle Drug Discovery Unit

Session 2 | Natural products as redox modulators and the therapeutic perspective
Click here to view
Professor Alistair Nunn, Visiting Professor, Research Centre for Optimal Health, University of Westminster and Director of Science, The Guy Foundation
Dr Wolfgang Brysch, Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Medical Officer, MetrioPharm AG

Session 3 | Entangled Posner molecules and the therapeutic perspective
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Professor Matthew Fisher, Professor of Physics, University of California Santa Barbara
Dr Dave Ecker, Co-Founder and Vice-President of Strategic Innovation, Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Session 4 | Light-matter interactions and the therapeutic perspective
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Professor Gregory Scholes, William S. Tod Professor of Chemistry, Princeton University
Dr Lise Hébert, Senior Vice-President, Research and Clinical Affairs, Klox Technologies
Brent Vaughan, CEO, Cognito Therapeutics

2021 Autumn Series

Download the proceedings here
Download the programme here

Professor Douglas C Wallace, Director, Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute: Electromagnetic coupling in the biological context Click here to view

Professor Michael Hamblin, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Laser Research Centre, University of Johannesburg: Mechanisms of photobiomodulation and application to the brain Click here to view

Professor Jack Tuszyński, Professor of Physics and Adjunct Professor of Oncology, University of Alberta: Quantum neurobiology and electrodynamic therapeutics Click here to view

Professor Margaret Ahmad, Director of Research, Institute of Biology Paris-Seine, Sorbonne University: Therapeutic application of light and electromagnetic fields to reduce hyper-inflammation triggered by COVID-19 Click here to view

Professor Christoph Simon, Institute for Quantum Science and Technology & Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary: Potential roles of radical pairs and photons in the brain Click here to view

2021 Spring Series

Download the Proceedings here

Professor Geoffrey Guy, Founder and Chairman, The Guy Foundation: ‘Introduction to The Guy Foundation: our philosophy and aims’ Click here to view

Professor Alistair Nunn, Director of Science, The Guy Foundation; Visiting Professor, University of Westminster: ‘The shape of life from the beginning: the role of electromagnetic fields in the prebiotic world’ Click here to view

Dr Philip Kurian, Quantum Biology Laboratory, Howard University; Scientific Advisor: ‘What is life today? Light as scaffold for biological whole-system approaches, and the future of quantum immortality’ Click here to view

Professor Masashi Aono, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University: ‘Amoeba-based combinatorial optimization problem solver as a potential platform for quantum-bio computing’ Click here to view

Dr Michal Cifra, Institute of Photonics and Electronics, The Czech Academy of Sciences: ‘How do cells generate and respond to electromagnetic fields?’ Click here to view

Professor Li-Huei Tsai, The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: ‘Noninvasive sensory stimulation to induce gamma entrainment and neuroprotection’ Click here to view

Professor Judith Klinman, School of Chemistry, UC Berkeley: ‘At the interface of quantum and classical behavior in nature: looking into the eye of quantum tunneling in enzymes and the role of a noisy environment’ Click here to view

2020 Autumn Series

Does biology utilise environmental noise to amplify quantum effects?

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Professor Giuseppe Vitiello, Honorary Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Salerno: ‘On the wave of coherence. Biology beyond the atomist standpoint.’ Click here to view

Professor Gábor Vattay, Head of Department, Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest: ‘Quantum criticality in biological molecules’ Click here to view

Professor Gregory Scholes, William S. Tod Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Princeton University: ‘What is coherence and how is it harnessed in biology?’ Click here to view

Professor Marco Pettini, Professor of Theoretical Physics, Aix-Marseille University: ‘Fröhlich coherence and its role in higher consciousness’ Click here to view

Professor Nick Lane, Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London: ‘Was tunnelling required at the beginning of life?’’ Click here to view

2020 Spring Series

As laboratories around the world closed due to Covid-19, the Foundation responded to requests from scientists by rapidly pulling together a series of on-line lectures, the ‘2020 Spring Series’, with the aim of bringing together leading scientists from apparently different backgrounds but whose work may well be linked by a common thread: the potential importance of quantum effects and interaction with the environment.

With an overarching theme of sweet spots and the voyage from the quantum to the macroscopic – viewing biological phenomena from different scales, five scientists delivered their thought-provoking lectures, followed by lively discussions

In the first talk Dr Philip Kurian delved right into an area of science that theory suggests, if proven empirically, life relies on basic quantum effects to ensure its robustness. In effect, the environment seems to “tune” the quantum world in a way that is optimal. One theoretical example of this is plasmonic allostery and how large protein structures important in cell’s cytoskeleton, called tubulin, which contain regularly spaced chromophoric tryptophan amino acids that absorb ultraviolet light (UV), display something called “super-radiance” when excited with UV photons generated by oxidative stress in mitochondria; this hints at a whole new potential mechanism of how cells may function. In fact, this “tuning” concept may mean that more established inter-molecular forces, such as Van der Waals, could, with the aid of water, act over much longer distances due to quantum effects. This may begin to answer how living matter can organize, synchronize and coordinate its fundamental quantum constituents across several orders of magnitude both in space and time.

In the second talk Professor Wayne Frasch an expert in bioenergetics and the molecular motor FoF1 ATP synthase, described how this tiny little turbine in the mitochondria uses the proton gradient generated by the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) to capture energy in the form of ATP – a molecule that stores energy in a usable form. Although it is thought that the ETC may well be using significant quantum effects, the role of quantum effects in the FoF1 ATP synthase has not really been investigated. Given that it is emerging that quantum effects could be playing a role in long range signalling within cells, as described by Phillip Kurian, it would be interesting to speculate that they may also play a role in controlling large complex structures like that of the FoF1 ATP synthase.

The third talk of the series was given by Dr Edward Calabrese who is an expert in the biological phenomena now called “hormesis” (the idea is also embraced by “adaptogens”). This is where a small dose of a “stressor” induces a biological system to adapt, and so becomes better able to resist the stressor the next time around – in effect, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. It is a kind of over-compensatory response, and is induced by many biological factors and agents. For instance, exercise, fasting and plant defence compounds. Key biological systems involved in this are the anti-oxidant pathways and mitochondria. In effect, it seems that life requires a certain amount of stress to function optimally, in effect, a Goldilocks zone or sweet-spot. The relevance is that this could be a higher order reflection of what happens at the quantum level (see Philip Kurian’s and Martin Plenio’s talks). It of course also echoes Darwinian natural selection in the sense that stress, at the molecular level, can accelerate the removal of damaged components and enhance the production of more functional ones.

In the fourth talk, Professor Michael Levin provides evidence for an idea about the importance of biomorphogenetic fields in defining an organism’s shape; in essence, he outlines data from flatworms that the shape and structure of organs, and animals, may rely on the generation of an electromagnetic field. In effect, these fields encode information about where cells need to go. This is potentially highly valuable as it hints at how regeneration of limbs/organs may be achieved. The fields are generated by ion gradients and the movement of charged particles, which are also essential for everyday metabolic processes. For example, the highest potentials are found across the mitochondrial inner membrane, where the energy density approaches that of a bolt of lightning. This of course raises the question, which came first, the field or the ion gradient, and did this shape the evolution of life? If, as it now becoming apparent, life may well have evolved to use significant quantum effects – how do these interact with this morphogenetic field? Do quantum effects dictate electromagnetic fields at larger scales, and what is the interaction?

In the last talk of the series, Professor Martin Plenio, in his discussion around the possible role of quantum dynamics in biology, provided an overview which could well link all the previous talks. One of the main points he made was that there appeared to be a “sweet spot” between biological performance and system-environment interaction. This is potentially highlighted by the possibility that the boundary between clear quantum effects, for instance, at sub-microscopic/nanoscopic distances and very short time scales, often measured in the nano-femto/second range, to the macroscopic, could be something that life manipulates to balance coherence and decoherence. In effect, the apparently hot and chaotic environment tunes the quantum world and enables things like efficient electron transport and charge separation, which are essential for life. He also discussed the need to develop new measurement techniques to detect the extent of quantum effects in biology, which, intriguingly, may not only tell about the role of quantum mechanics in biology, but perhaps tell us something about quantum mechanics itself. One of the emerging technologies revolves around the use of photons and nano-diamonds.

In summary, one of the take home messages that could be distilled from these talks is that there is a clear interaction between the larger classical world and the smaller space described by quantum mechanics; this boundary could be pivotal to the existence of life and is exploited by it. Perhaps one of the most interesting, and perhaps, telling similarities is the requirement for a quantum/environment sweet spot, which if drawn displays and inverted “U” shape, which is identical to the hormetic curve. Could this be telling us something about the origins of life itself, and the need for the right kind “stressful” conditions to get it going? For example, it is possible that natural selection of dissipative molecular systems, for instance, in proton and/or photon gradients, gave rise to “life” as a natural product of the laws of thermodynamics: life is very good at enhancing entropy in the Universe. This would suggest that in places where there was little energy potential, life would never get going, but in places with very high potential, it would also not get going as it couldn’t remain stable – but in just the right spot, it may well do. The discovery of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus indicates that perhaps, just maybe, even here, life has found a way to exploit the boundary between the quantum and the classical worlds.

Professor Alistair Nunn, Director of Science, The Guy Foundation

18^th September 2020

Dr Philip Kurian, Principal Investigator and Founding Director, Quantum Biology Lab, Howard University, Washington DC: New Horizons in quantum biology: plasmon, exciton and phonon correlations in biomolecular systems.
Dr Kurian gave a similar talk to the American Physical Society, click here to view (starts at 1 hour 16 minutes)

Professor Wayne Frasch, Biomedicine and Biotechnology faculty group leader, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University: Energy harvesting by living organisms. Click here to view

Dr Edward J Calabrese, Professor in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts: Hormesis: biological foundations, medical and public health implications. Click here to view

Professor Michael Levin, Director of the Allen Discovery Centre at Tufts University, Massachusetts: Reprogramming endogenous bioelectrical circuits: a new approach to regenerative medicine. Click here to view

Professor Dr Martin Plenio, Director, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ulm University: Quantum dynamics and biology Click here to view

Colloquium on Quantum Biology and Bioenergetics, October 2019

Download the Proceedings here

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