CLASSIC v QUANTUM

Biomolecule behaves like a wave

Physicists at the University of Vienna in Austria have observed wave-particle duality in a biomolecule for the first time. The team also reports observing wave-like behaviour in the most massive molecule yet - a fluorinated 'buckyball'. It is twice as large as the previously biggest molecule known to exhibit quantum wave-like behaviour.
Researchers have seen wave-particle duality in electrons, atoms and small molecules but it has never been seen in the macroscopic world. This is because the quantum - or de Broglie - wavelength is so small for large objects that we cannot detect their interference in a practical experiment.
In 1999, Anton Zeilinger's group at the University of Vienna observed wave properties in carbon-60 molecules - buckminsterfullerenes or 'buckyballs' -- and in their larger counterparts, carbon-70 molecules. At the time, these were the largest objects ever to have exhibited de Broglie wave behaviour but with a diameter of about 1 nm they were still over 6 orders of magnitude smaller than real macroscopic objects.
The Vienna team has performed a new experiment on tetraphenylporphyrin molecules. These biological molecules are present in chlorophyll and haemoglobin. They have a diameter of about 2 nm, which is over twice as big as a carbon-60 molecule.