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. The...
Key points
- Scientists have successfully shown a quantum computer can improve the accuracy and reach of generative artificial intelligence drug discovery models.
- 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 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.
- Even Patrick Jenkins was initially reluctant to explore the technology: “I was a huge quantum skeptic” he says with a laugh, believing any application to his work would be “decades away.” He and his team use big data and AI to discover proteins which could unlock new immunotherapies cheaper and faster, often funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
What happened
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Scientists have successfully shown a quantum computer can improve the accuracy and reach of generative artificial intelligence drug discovery models. 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 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. Even Patrick Jenkins was initially reluctant to explore the technology: “I was a huge quantum skeptic” he says with a laugh, believing any application to his work would be “decades away.” He and his team use big data and AI to discover proteins which could unlock new immunotherapies cheaper and faster, often funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. His team hypothesized that embedding a quantum computer into their workflow could make it generate a more diverse set of peptides, especially for targets where they had less data, after learning that the machines...