IBM and Moderna have simulated the longest mRNA pattern without AI -- they used a quantum computer instead [View all]

Scientists used IBM's R2 Heron quantum processor to predict the secondary protein structure of a 60-nucleotide-long mRNA sequence.

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Although it’s made up of only a single strand of amino acids, mRNA has a secondary protein structure consisting of a series of folds that provide a given molecule’s specific 3D shape. The number of possible folding permutations increases exponentially with each added nucleotide. This makes the challenge of predicting what shape a mRNA molecule will take intractable at higher scales.

The IBM and Moderna experiment, outlined in a study first published for the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering, demonstrated how quantum computing can be used to augment the traditional methods for making such predictions. Traditionally, these predictions typically relied on binary, classical computers and artificial intelligence (AI) models such as Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold.

https://www.livescience.com/technology/computing/ibm-and-moderna-have-simulated-the-longest-mrna-pattern-without-ai-they-used-a-quantum-computer-instead