Scientists’ Side Hustle? Using AI and Quantum Computing to Generate New Peptides
Scientists have successfully shown a quantum computer can improve the accuracy and reach of generative artificial intelligence drug discovery models. And they did it using their spare time and money leftover from other projects.
The Technical University of Denmark team ran their generative AI model for predicting proteins in conjunction with a printer-sized quantum computer built by British startup ORCA Computing, which sped up AI by linking quantum machines with traditional processors. The researchers used the hybrid technique to generate novel peptides—short chains of amino acids—capable of binding to specific proteins in the body. Doing so is a crucial step in vaccine development.
The team of researchers worked weekends and pooled unspent money from other projects because "most innovative science is too scary for foundations,” according to DTU professor Timothy Patrick Jenkins, who led the project.
Making the peptides in the laboratory and testing whether these would bind to...
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