Quantum tunnelling is a phenomenon which becomes relevant at the nanoscale and below. It is a paradox from the classical point of view as it enables elementary particles and atoms to permeate an energetic barrier without the need for sufficient energy to overcome it. Tunnelling is being of vital importance for life: physical and chemical processes can be traced directly back to the effects of quantum tunnelling. These processes include the prebiotic chemistry as well as the function of biomolecular nanomachines and has many highly important implications that can be derived from to the field of molecular, prebiotic chemistry and biological evolution, respectively.
