Quantum Photosynthesis Update

There's an new paper in Nature (full text behind the paywall) which looks very interesting.  The authors found evidence that quantum coherent effects are utilized to drive more efficient photosynthesis in algae at room temperature.  This result, along with other research, suggests this is a ubiquitous aspect of photosynthesis in nature.  A SciAm article describing the research with quotes from team leader Greg Scholes is here.  Wired has an article here (hat tip: Cosmic Variance).  In other work on this topic, the research group behind the Engel, et.al. paper from 2007 (the subject of my post: "Quantum Biology Goes Mainstream") also has a new arxiv preprint with updated results.

I suspect that non-trivial quantum effects are widespread in biology, and I hope researchers continue to get the inspiration (and funding ) to continue these efforts.