First complete genome loaded onto a quantum computer

Amazing stuff!

"Since the landmark decoding of the human genome in the early 2000s, DNA sequencing has exploded. Traditional computers have struggled to keep pace with the deluge of data and soaring processing demands, creating a bottleneck in scientists’ capacity to mine the myriad variations in DNA for biological insights—and a push for alternative solutions.

Now, one option, quantum computing, may be a step closer to helping. In an announcement last week, researchers say they have for the first time encoded a complete, albeit small, genome, that of the hepatitis D virus, into a quantum computer, proving in principle these weird machines could one day aid genomics research. ...

The approach may hold promise for studying the immense genetic variation found in humans and other organisms. Although geneticists have long relied on reference genomes represented by single linear sequences, they’re increasingly turning to “pangenomes,” which capture many possible DNA or RNA sequences within a species by branching into alternative versions. Pangenomes are seen as key to personalized medicine and understanding pathogen evolution, for example, but they’re computationally complex. ..."

"... The breakthrough comes from a collaboration between the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Melbourne, with Kyiv Academic University as an additional partner. The genome was loaded onto an IBM quantum computer, powered by the company’s latest 156-qubit Heron processor. ...

The goal of the Quantum Pangenomics project within Q4Bio was to perform a range of genomic processing tasks for the most complex and variable genomes and sequences – a task that can go beyond the capabilities of current classical computers, including the use of artificial intelligence. These tasks include assembling genomes and pangenomes from DNA sequence data, as well as mapping DNA fragments into reference genomes, which is key for studying genetic variation.

A pangenome is a collection of genome sequences from many individuals of the same species and they are particularly challenging to analyse using classical computing methods.2 Rather than representing a single reference genome, pangenomes capture the genetic diversity across many populations, which provides a more complete view of genetic variation. However, analysing multiple genomes at once dramatically increases computational complexity: as more genomes are incorporated into a pangenome, the burden on classical tools grows rapidly. ..."

First complete genome loaded onto a quantum computer | Science | AAAS "Researchers encode the tiny hepatitis D virus in an early step toward “quantum genomics”"

Genome loaded onto a quantum computer in world first (original news release) "Sanger Institute team and their collaborators have successfully loaded the Hepatitis D viral genome on a quantum computer "