Earlier it was noted that the functioning of biological systems is accompanied by a very low level of energy dissipation, and it was assumed that a physical mechanism similar to that which works in superconductivity can operate here. The paper proposes a hypothesis that the phenomenon of life is not based on superconductivity, but on some so far unexplored macroscopic quantum state of organic structures making up the cell. It is assumed that this state is also characterized by the presence of an energy gap in the electronic spectrum, which makes the state stable and provides a low level of energy dissipation. The possibility of using optical spectroscopy methods for identifying the energy gap in biological objects is analyzed. It is assumed that the virus is alive inside the host cell, but not alive outside the host cell. It is proposed to use Raman spectroscopy of the process of bacterial infection with phages to search for the energy gap. This should confirm or refute the main hypothesis, as well as provide an opportunity to answer the question: “Are viruses alive?”

早些时候有人指出，生物系统的功能伴随着非常低水平的能量耗散，并且假设类似于在超导中起作用的物理机制可以在这里运行。该论文提出了一个假设，即生命现象不是基于超导性，而是基于构成细胞的有机结构的一些迄今为止尚未探索的宏观量子态。假设这种状态的特征还在于电子光谱中存在能隙，这使得状态稳定并提供低水平的能量耗散。分析了使用光谱方法识别生物物体中能隙的可能性。假设病毒在宿主细胞内存活，但在宿主细胞外不存活。建议使用噬菌体细菌感染过程的拉曼光谱来寻找能隙。这应该证实或驳斥主要假设，并提供一个机会来回答这个问题：“病毒还活着吗？”