It’s life, but not as we know it: Chatty cells found to be using ‘quantum communication’, which could reverse the ageing process

Chinese scientists have observed “quantum communication” inside a living cell, potentially an important step forward in finding ways to reverse the ageing process.

Quantum communication is defined as the art of transferring a quantum state from one place to another.

Before making fateful decisions, such as whether or not to rejuvenate, major components in a cell may use sudden, unpredictable “flashes” to facilitate lively discussion until a consensus is reached, according to the new study.

“We believe there is some kind of dialogue [going on inside cells] … like the ‘mews’ of Schrodinger’s Cat,” said Professor Liu Xingguo, lead scientist of the study.

He was referring to a thought experiment by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935 that relates to theories of quantum mechanics.

It presents the scenario of a cat placed in a sealed box with a radioactive sample, a Geiger counter and some poison. Various readings show the cat to be dead and alive at the same time. Similarly, the cells were found to be pinging messages about whether to continue living or die.

Liu works with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health in southern China’s Guangdong province. His team’s paper was recently published in the journal Cell Metabolism.