  A critical assessment of the recent developments of molecular biology is
presented. The thesis that they do not lead to a conceptual understanding of
life and biological systems is defended. Maturana and Varela's concept of
autopoiesis is briefly sketched and its logical circularity avoided by
postulating the existence of underlying {\it living processes}, entailing
amplification from the microscopic to the macroscopic scale, with increasing
complexity in the passage from one scale to the other. Following such a line of
thought, the currently accepted model of condensed matter, which is based on
electrostatics and short-ranged forces, is criticized. It is suggested that the
correct interpretation of quantum dispersion forces (van der Waals, hydrogen
bonding, and so on) as quantum coherence effects hints at the necessity of
including long-ranged forces (or mechanisms for them) in condensed matter
theories of biological processes. Some quantum effects in biology are reviewed
and quantum mechanics is acknowledged as conceptually important to biology
since without it most (if not all) of the biological structures and signalling
processes would not even exist. Moreover, it is suggested that long-range
quantum coherent dynamics, including electron polarization, may be invoked to
explain signal amplification process in biological systems in general.
