Physical Principles in Chemoreception

Is it not sheer foolishness to try to apply the methods of theoretical physics to biological structures? Physics flowered because it limited itself to the study of very simple systems; on the other hand, the essence of "living things" seems to have to do with the extreme intricacy of their structure. Is it a hopeless endeavour to attempt to bring the two together, or should one try nevertheless? Most of my colleagues in theoretical physics feel one should not waste one's time and stick to "...