Room temperature coherent interactions between fluorescent proteins

Quantum coherence between fluorescent proteins (FPs) at physiological temperature was thought to be impossible because of rapid vibrational decoherence and structural limitation in close proximity. However, surprisingly, it has been observed that two fluorophores in a yellow fluorescent protein VenusA206 homodimer behave coherently under physiological conditions (Biophysical Journal 116, 1918 (2019)). This result suggests the hypothesis that these fluorophores have unique photo-physical behaviors that might complicate experimental interpretation but may be exploited to enable quantum computation at room temperature. Thus, a better understanding of FP photo-physics is warranted. This project aims to characterize room temperature coherent interactions between fluorescent proteins.