Vibration Assisted Electron Tunnelling in Covid-19 Infection Using Quantum State Diddusion

The spread of the COVID-19 virus has become a global health crisis, and finding effective treatments

and preventions is a top priority. The field of quantum biology primarily focuses on energy or charge

transfer, with a particular emphasis on photosynthesis. However, there is evidence to suggest that

cellular receptors such as olfactory or neural receptors may also use vibration-assisted electron

tunnelling to enhance their functions. Quantum tunnelling has also been observed in enzyme activity,

which is relevant to the invasion of host cells by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Additionally, COVID-19 appears

to disrupt receptors such as olfactory receptors. These findings suggest that quantum effects could

provide new insights into the mechanisms of biological systems and disease, including potential

treatments for COVID-19. We have applied the open quantum system approach using Quantum State

Diffusion to solve the non-linear stochastic Schrödinger equation (SSE) for COVID-19 virus infection.

Our model includes the mechanism when the spike protein of the virus binds with an ACE2 receptor

is considered as dimer. These two entities form a system and then coupled with the cell membrane,

which is modelled as a set of harmonic oscillators (bath). By simulating the SSE, we find that there

is vibration-assisted electron tunnelling happening in certain biological parameters and coupling

regimes. Furthermore, our model contributes to the ongoing research to understand the fundamental

nature of virus dynamics. It proposes that vibration-assisted electron tunneling could be a molecular

phenomenon that augments the lock-and-key process for olfaction. This insight may enhance our

understanding of the underlying mechanisms governing virus-receptor interactions and could

potentially lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies.