Quantum models in biology

The penetration of quantum concepts into biological science, which began shortly after the creation of quantum mechanics, over the past two decades has taken shape in a new interdisciplinary scientific discipline — quantum biology. One of the key questions of quantum biology has been formulated as follows: are there biological systems that use quantum effects to perform a task that cannot be done classically? More broadly, do some kinds of organisms adapt efficient quantum mechanisms in the process of their evolutionary development in order to gain an advantage over their competitors? The range of topical problems of the new discipline discussed in this brief review includes questions of a general, historical and methodological character, and generalizes some theoretical models aimed at describing quantum processes, including bacterial photosynthesis, bird magnetoreception, and the mechanism of olfactory sense in living organisms.