Scientists and thought leaders from around the world met at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington, Va. in April to discuss non-classical behavior and quantum effects in biology, as well as how to incorporate these effects into engineered device structure and systems.

Non-Classical Behaviors in Biological Functions: Potential for Smart Sensing

There has been a growing body of published literature as well as an increasing number of conferences on the fundamental aspects of quantum effects in biology.  In contrast, there have been few discussions on the prospects of incorporating quantum biology behavior (or other non-classical behavior) into engineered device structure and systems.  Such non-classical biophysical processes can lay the foundation for a new revolutionary class of sensing modalities and opens the possibility of “seeing” (and extending) beyond our current detection capabilities in monitoring our surroundings.

Under this basis, a strategic workshop was organized and hosted by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on April 12-13, 2018 in Arlington, Virginia. Funding was provided by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Non-Classical Behaviors in Biological Functions: Potential for Smart Sensing

Executive Summary

In recent years, there has been increasing evidence of non-classical (e.g., quantum mechanical, biophysical processes, collective behavior, etc.) behavior appearing to play non-trivial roles in certain biological function.  These examples appear wide-ranging from photosynthesis being ubiquitous in plants to magnetoreception or collective motion in certain animal species.  Just as nature may leverage quantum effects to enhance efficiency or functionality, thereby confer a competitive biological advantage, could similar non-classical biophysical effects be leveraged in non-biological systems, and thus create a competitive advantage?  There has been a growing body of published literature as well as an increasing number of conferences on the fundamental aspects of quantum effects in biology.  In contrast, there have been few discussions on the prospects of incorporating quantum biology behavior (or other non-classical behavior) into engineered device structure and systems.  Such non-classical biophysical processes can lay the foundation for a new revolutionary class of sensing modalities and opens the possibility of “seeing” (and extending) beyond our current detection capabilities in monitoring our surroundings.

Under this basis, the first (of its kind) strategic workshop organized and hosted by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was held on April 12-13, 2018 in Arlington, Virginia.  The overarching objectives of this workshop were more than to assemble a group of world-class scientific leaders in the non-classical fields and to update each other on their particular research, but rather bring disparate groups together to address the following:

  • Review (briefly) key findings and the progress to date in the field;
  • Explore advanced tools and techniques needed to identify new/non-classical behavior and/or provide unmistakable signatures of non-classical effects in biological systems;
  • Identify challenges and potential approaches/applications, such as smart sensors, for the incorporation of non-classical behavior.

Over the two days, the workshop was partitioned into six sessions covering the overarching objections.  The range of topics covered in this workshop is in foundational areas relevant to the Physical and Biological Sciences Branch (RTB) of the Air Force Office for Scientific Research (AFOSR).  Moreover, leveraging biophysical behaviors could bring new, orthogonal capabilities to future Air Force systems in the form of designing and implementing advanced sensing devices.  In other words, further research in this area would generate fundamental knowledge that could be transformational in enabling U.S. Air Force operations to have enhanced sensing and improved, robust situational awareness.  Foe instance, understanding how living (biological) systems utilize quantum behavior at the nanoscale, which is hierarchically expressed in a “macroscopic” function, could inspire future technology in a wide variety of Air Force applications, such as enabling advanced dynamic control using unconventional sensory systems, thereby provide more versatility and/or performance.

A final version of the complete workshop report will be available shortly. Below is a draft version.

Non-Classical Behaviors in Biological Functions: Potential for Smart Sensing

Meeting Agenda

April 12-13, 2018
Virginia Tech Research Center - Arlington, VA

Day 1 - April 12
Day 2 - April 13

Day 1 - April 12
Time
Description
8:00 - 08:30 AM Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 - 08:40 AM Welcome and Introductions
Larry Nagahara, Johns Hopkins University
Michael Espey, National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health
Holly Goodson, University of Notre Dame
Jennifer Ogilvie, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
8:40 - 10:10 AM Panel Session 1: Non-Classical Behavior Introduction
Larry Nagahara, Johns Hopkins University
Girish Agarwal, Texas A&M University
Paul Brumer, University of Toronto
Jeffrey Gilman, National Institutes of Standards and Technology
Andrew Greentree, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
10:10 - 10:30 AM Break
10:30 - 12:00 AM Panel Session 2: Non-Classical Biological Function (Magneto-navigation): From Proteins to Cells
Holly Goodson, University of Notre Dame
Moumita Das, Rochester Institute of Technology
Maria Procopio, Johns Hopkins University
Robert Usselman, Montana State University
12:00 - 1:00 PM Working Lunch: Participants Introductions
1:00 - 2:30 PM Panel Session 3: Non-Classical Phenomena as a Probe
Jennifer Ogilvie, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Mabel Coyanis, MINTEK
Brant Gibson, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Phillip Hemmer, Texas A&M University
Vladislav Yakovlev, Texas A&M University
2:30 - 3:00 PM Panel Session 4: Possible Non-Classical Biological Systems
Michael Espey, National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health
Valentina Benfenati, The Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity National Resource Council
Yun Chen, Johns Hopkins University
Dan Sackett, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development/National Institutes of Health

Day 2 - April 13
Time
Description
8:00 - 8:30 AM Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 - 8:40 AM Summary of Day 1
Larry Nagahara, Johns Hopkins University
Michael Espey, National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health
Holly Goodson, University of Notre Dame
Jennifer Ogilvie, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
8:40 - 10:10 AM Panel Session 5: Non-Classical Probes Applied to Biology
Michael Espey, National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health
Peter Burke, University of California, Irvine
Ted Goodson III, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Wolfgang Losert, University of Maryland, College Park
Makhapa Makhafola, MINTEK
10:10 - 10:30 AM Break
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Panel Session 6: Smart Sensing: Mixing All the Ingredients
Larry Nagahara, Johns Hopkins University
Rosie Hicks, Australian National Fabrication Facility
Chenzhong Li, National Science Foundation
Jones Papo, MINTEK
Shashank Priya, Penn State University
12:00 -12:30 PM Working Lunch: Wrap-up and Adjourn

Non-Classical Behaviors in Biological Functions: Potential for Smart Sensing

Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Sofi Bin-Salamon

Australian National Fabrication Facility

Rosie Hicks

Johns Hopkins University

Yun Chen
Larry Nagahara
Maria Procopio
Seungman Park

MINTEK

Makhapa Makhafola
Mabel Coyanis
Jones Papo

Montana State University

Robert Usselman

National Cancer Institute - National Institutes of Health

Michael Espy

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - National Institutes of Health

Dan Sackett

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Jeffrey Gilman

National Research Council of Italy

Valentina Benfenati

National Science Foundation

Chenzhong Li

Pennsylvania State University

Shashank Priya

Rochester Institute of Technology

Moumita Das

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Brant Gibson
Andrew Greentree

Texas A&M University

Girish Agarwal
Phillip Hemmer
Vladislav Yakovlev

University of California, Irvine

Peter Burke

University of Maryland College Park

Phillip Alvarez
Kate O'Neill
Wolfgang Losert

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Theodore Goodson, III
Arkaprabha Konar
Jennifer Ogilvie

University of Notre Dame

Dean Edun
Holly Goodson

University of Toronto

Paul Brumer