Introduction
This work is the result of 25 years of consistent work looking at living systems as
operating on the basis of quantum computers. This is known as quantum biology, and
there is significant backing, academically, to support this idea.
Conventional bio-medical science focuses exclusively on the pathological and biochemical
aspects of biology. This is an approach which works, but there is a deeper reality which
could yield significant diagnostic insights.

The following is drawn from my own theoretical work, and that of, in particular, the work
of Zeilinger at the University of Vienna, who has demonstrated with his research group
several futuristic phenomena such as quantum teleportation and quantum encryption.
Much of his work and ideas crystallise the work I have been doing.
Quantum theory describes the world with astonishing precision, whether applied to
elementary particles a hundred thousand times smaller than atoms, or to currents
super conducting rings a billion times bigger. The most fundamental element of the
quantum world is essentially quantisation, the notion that energy, spin and other
quantities only come in discrete steps. Therefore the world at its most fundamental
level is in effect rather grainy, rather like a lots of pixels on a digital picture. Another
enigma is the probabilistic nature of the quantum world, and this is at odds with the
classical world of definite physical properties. This is particularly relevant in the work we
are doing, in that the results are not as definitive as we would like. Culturally, we all like
definite outcomes. This fuels much of the current interest in genetic engineering, the
human genome etc. However, if one looks in detail into the world of genetics and genetic
engineering, one will find that the outcomes there are also very much probabilistic and
are not definitive at all, this is simply a smoke screen to keep the investors pouring the
money into the bio-technology industry, which they are doing at the current time. For a
high quality book on this, with appropriate references, see ‘Genetic Engineering –
Dreams or Nightmares?’ by Mae-Wan Ho.

In the quantum world there are many strange phenomena, such as entanglement, that is
the profound connectedness of objects and processes across infinite distances, and
super position, the astonishing proposition that an electron can be in two places at
once, a current can flow simultaneously clockwise and anti clockwise, until you actually
look to see which way the current is flowing or where the electron is. This process is
known as collapsing the wave function, and the simple process of observation produces
a definitive result. The specific science underlying the work we’ve been doing over the
past 25 years is quantum electrodynamics (QED), which essentially describes how
photons (packets of light), can influence electrons.
2

What we are proposing, is that information is fundamental, and information itself has as
much reality as electricity and magnetism do. We live in an age of information, and we
depend increasingly on information technology. The whole reason I’m able to send you
this e-mail is dependent on that.

The ‘atom’ of information is the bit, the quantity contained in the answer to a Yes or No
question. This is the only way we can interrogate nature, rather like a lawyer
interrogates a witness. There are a whole series of questions posed to which there is
either one or the other answer. So in information terms, an elementary particle, billions
of time smaller than an atom, can only give one or other answer. Once that answer has
been given, then essentially, for example, the position of that particular particle be it an
electron comes into reality. Then we call this the collapse of the wave function. So
where does the intrinsic randomness found in the quantum world arise? To that end,
consider the spin of an electron. Say it is measured along a vertical axis (call it the ‘z’
axis, three dimensional space has three axis, called the ‘x’, ‘y’ and ‘z’ axis), and found to be
pointing up. Because one bit of information has been used to make that statement, no
more information can be carried by the electron spin. Consequently, no information is
available to predict the amounts of spin in the other two axis (the ‘x’ and ‘y’). So those
amounts of spin are of necessity entirely random. If you then measure the spin in one of
these directions, there is an equal chance of it pointing right or left, forward or back.
This fundamental randomness is what we call ‘Heisenderg’s Uncertainly Principle’. We
believe with the work we are doing, that living systems have found a way around this
uncertainty. Therefore the idea of information here is attached to a single elementary
system, that can be on electron, a photon or whatever you like. This explains the
phenomenon of entanglement where two particles which have been together at one point
and should become separated to the opposite ends of the universe, they are so-called
entangled, because it is impossible, even in principle, to describe the state of one
without knowing the state of the other. So even though they are spatially separate by
vast distances potentially, they have no independent existence. This has been proven in
experiment. So therefore the graininess of reality is to do with the fact that we can
only get Yes or No answers to properties of any elementary system.

I agree with Zeilinger in the respect that a new theory of quantum information is needed
if we are able to handle the quantum computers of the future. This technology promises
one day to perform calculations far faster than ordinary computers as billions of
calculations can be carried on in parallel. This exploits the system of the quantum world
to be in more than one state at the same time. Physicists call the building blocks of
their planned quantum computers ‘qubits’. A qubit is simply an elementary system such
as an electron spin. Because a qubit can be in a super position of several states, it must
hold not only classical information, that is information giving its actual position in three
dimensional space, or some other measurement such as mass, but some more elusive
kind of quantum information too.