Evolution as a collective phenomenon.

The quantum mechanical description of biosystems, which emphasise their dielectric properties and the presence of an uncorrelated condensate of phonons, (in analogy with Bose-Einstein condensation), is extended to a description of biosystems, in which the condensed phonons show anomalous averages, (in analogy with superconductivity). The theory is used to show that a quantum ultraviolet defence mechanism may have been present at the origin of chemical evolution, removing a difficulty in the standard scenario. Suggestions are made as to how to proceed experimentally to show the existence of a correlated phonon condensate.