Quantum selfish gene (biological evolution in terms of quantum mechanics)

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel quantum mechanical framework for modeling biological evolution, representing populations as wave functions of meta-genes and describing their dynamics with unitary operators or Lindblad equations.

Contribution

It proposes a quantum approach to evolution using meta-genes and wave functions, bridging concepts of selfish genes and quantum mechanics.

Findings

Quantum description of populations with different meta-genes.

Representation of evolution through unitary operators or Lindblad equations.

Illustration with a predator-prey model of wolves and deer.

Abstract

I propose to treat the biological evolution of genoms by means of quantum mechanical tools. We start with the concept of meta- gene, which specifies the "selfish gene" of R.Dawkins. Meta- gene encodes the abstract living unity, which can live relatively independently of the others, and can contain a few real creatures. Each population of living creatures we treat as the wave function on meta- genes, which module squared is the total number of creatures with the given meta-gene, and the phase is the sum of "aspirations" to change the classical states of meta- genes. Each individual life thus becomes one of possible outcomes of the virtual quantum measurement of this function. The evolution of genomes is described by the unitary operator in the space of psi-functions or by Kossovsky-Lindblad equation in the case of open biosystems. This operator contains all the information about specific conditions under which individuals are, and how "aspirations" of their meta- genes may be implemented at the biochemical level. We show the example of quantum description of the population with two parts of meta-gene: "wolves" and "deer", which can be simultaneously in the same abstract living unity. "Selfish gene" reconciled with the notion of individuality of alive beings that gives possibility to consider evolutionary scenarios and their possible physical causes from the single position.