The thing I found about biology in my limited study of it is that if a physical effect can happen, it's almost certainly used somewhere as a functional effect.
I'm regular puzzled that people think that biology is tractable. It seems to me the best we can hope for towards a complete understanding is a computational generative model.
Do you know any examples of semiconductor junctions being used in biological processes? It would be hilarious to me if there was a bacterium out there that just ”invented” a transistor or a diode for some silly reason.
Paper on biological diodes https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.00383.pdf but it doesn't use semiconductors, but ion transport (calls it iontronics instead of solid state electronics)
Indeed the ion channels used by nerves and muscles to send electrical signals are, like, one-way valves for ions
I'm regular puzzled that people think that biology is tractable. It seems to me the best we can hope for towards a complete understanding is a computational generative model.