Investigation of quantum coherence in bacterial photosynthetic systems

There is a great deal of evidence that quantum coherence is a feature of photosynthesis but considerable controversy concerning its role. The aim of this project will be to use metabolic approaches to investigate the role of quantum coherence in bacterial photosynthesis. Metabolomics approaches will be used to add single mass units to atomic nuclei of key atoms in the pigments that are involved in vibrational r electronic coherence and then measure changes in their optical and Raman spectroscopy of the pigments and the efficiency of photosynthesis.

This project will build on an existing QB-DTC project to clone, express and purify bespoke photosynthetic complexes in E. coli. Professor McFadden in a pioneer of quantum biology as well as being an expert in microbial genetics and metabolomics. Dr Youngchan Kim is a lecturer in Quantum Biology and an expert in photonics and spectroscopy. The project will be conducted in the Leverhulme Trust-supported Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Centre at the University of Surrey, the world’s first quantum biology Doctoral Training Centre with 20 current students