Talk
Quantum statistics and allometric relations in biology
- Lloyd Demetrius (Harvard University, Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, USA)
Abstract
This seminar proposes a mechanism to explain allometric relations between metabolic rate and body size in organisms . The model postulates that energy transduction in biological organisms is constrained by two classes of dynamical processes : the first process has its origin in Quantum mechanics and the constraints which the coupling of electron transport and proton translocation impose on metabolic activity . The second derives from evolutionary dynamics and the constraints which environmental factors impose on metabolic rate . This model applies to unicells , plants and animals and it is thus distinguished from competing models whose range of application is highly restricted .