We describe an approach to quantum computer inspired by the information processing at the molecular level in living cells. It is based on the separation of a small ensemble of qubits inside the living system (e.g., a bacterial cell), such that coherent quantum states of this ensemble remain practically unchanged for a long time. We use the notion of a quantum kernel to describe such an ensemble. Quantum kernel is not strictly connected with certain particles; it permanently exchanges atoms and molecules with the environment, which makes quantum kernel a virtual notion. There are many reasons to expect that the state of quantum kernel of a living system can be treated as the stationary state of some Hamiltonian. While the quantum kernel is responsible for the stability of dynamics at the time scale of cellular life, at the longer inter-generation time scale it can change, varying smoothly in the course of biological evolution. To the first level of approximation, quantum kernel can be described in the framework of qubit modification of Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model, in which the relaxation corresponds to the exchange of matter between quantum kernel and the rest of the cell and is represented as Lindblad super-operators.
We describe an approach to quantum computer inspired by the information processing at the molecular level in living cells. It is based on the separation of a small ensemble of qubits inside the living system (e.g., a bacterial cell), such that coherent quantum states of this ensemble remain practically unchanged for a long time. We use the notion of a quantum kernel to describe such an ensemble. Quantum kernel is not strictly connected with certain particles; it permanently exchanges atoms and molecules with the environment, which makes quantum kernel a virtual notion. There are many reasons to expect that the state of quantum kernel of a living system can be treated as the stationary state of some Hamiltonian. While the quantum kernel is responsible for the stability of dynamics at the time scale of cellular life, at the longer inter-generation time scale it can change, varying smoothly in the course of biological evolution. To the first level of approximation, quantum kernel can be described in the framework of qubit modification of Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model, in which the relaxation corresponds to the exchange of matter between quantum kernel and the rest of the cell and is represented as Lindblad super-operators.
The smallest details of living systems are molecular devices that operate between the classical and quantum levels, i.e. between the potential dimension (microscale) and the actual three-dimensional space (macroscale). They realize non-demolition quantum measurements in which time appears as a mesoscale dimension separating contradictory statements in the course of actualization. These smaller devices form larger devices (macromolecular complexes), up to living body. The quantum device possesses its own potential internal quantum state (IQS), which is maintained for prolonged time via error-correction being a reflection over this state. Decoherence-free IQS can exhibit itself by a creative generation of iteration limits in the real world. To avoid a collapse of the quantum information in the process of correcting errors, it is possible to make a partial measurement that extracts only the error-information and leaves the encoded state untouched. In natural quantum computers, which are living systems, the error-correction is internal. It is a result of reflection, given as a sort of a subjective process allotting optimal limits of iteration. The IQS resembles the properties of a quasi-particle, which interacts with the surround, applying decoherence commands to it. In this framework, enzymes are molecular automata of the extremal quantum computer, the set of which maintains stable highly ordered coherent state, and genome represents a concatenation of error-correcting codes into a single reflective set. Biological systems, being autopoietic in physical space, control quantum measurements in the physical universe. The biological evolution is really a functional evolution of measurement constraints in which limits of iteration are established possessing criteria of perfection and having selective values.
Whole-cell simulation, modeling all of a cell's functional systems over its life cycle, is an outstanding challenge in computational biology. Even the simplest living cell contains thousands of interacting proteins and metabolites (on the order of trillions of atoms) whose full functional dynamics spans roughly five orders of magnitude in space (nm to μm) and nearly nineteen in time (fs to hours). Further, many of the governing physical and chemical properties remain incompletely characterized. Simulating such complex systems at fully atomistic resolution over a full cell cycle is computationally intractable on classical architectures, raising a central question: Can quantum computing offer a viable path to whole-cell simulations that integrate molecular- and systems-level complexity? This Perspective examines the potential of quantum computing across three hierarchical scales: atomistic-molecular modeling, metabolic and regulatory networks, and whole-cell spatial modeling. We present a complexity analysis comparing classical and quantum algorithms for representative biological problems, identifying regimes of substantial theoretical speedup under specified algorithmic assumptions. We highlight algorithmic developments designed to leverage both near-term exploratory and fault-tolerant quantum architectures, and discuss practical bottlenecks: data encoding overhead, system conditioning, measurement constraints, and hybrid quantum-HPC integration. Together, these results outline a roadmap for quantum-accelerated whole-cell modeling and the biological insights such multiscale frameworks may eventually enable.
Classical computational simulations of biological systems, particularly at the cellular level, face significant limitations due to the exponential growth in computational requirements with system complexity. This work proposes a novel approach to simulating cellular processes utilizing quantum-inspired algorithms, specifically tensor network methods, to overcome these limitations. These algorithms mimic key aspects of quantum computation – superposition and interference – to efficiently model intricate molecular interactions and resulting emergent phenomena. The core idea is to represent complex biological systems using tensor networks, enabling parallel processing and capturing correlations inherent in quantum systems. This approach provides a computationally feasible pathway for simulating dynamic cellular behavior, offering potential breakthroughs in areas such as drug discovery, disease modeling, and understanding fundamental biological mechanisms. The presented framework focuses on the theoretical foundations and algorithmic design, without necessitating access to quantum hardware, making it immediately applicable for high-performance computing environments. We explore the mathematical formalism underpinning the method, detailing the key equations and operations involved in simulating cellular processes. The ultimate goal is to establish a robust and scalable simulation technique capable of tackling the complexities of biological systems.
Understanding how living cells move information and energy so quickly and efficiently is a key question in modern biophysics. In this project, I use quantum-inspired computational models to study cellular signaling networks and energy transfer pathways. The main idea is to treat signaling molecules like “walkers” on a graph and compare how signals spread under classical rules versus quantum-inspired rules. Using Python, I built simple graph-based simulations of signaling and energy transfer. In the quantum-inspired version, nodes can be in superposed states and transitions are probabilistic, similar to quantum walks. I then compared how fast and how reliably signals reach target nodes in the two cases. The results suggest that quantum-inspired dynamics can support faster and more robust signal propagation, echoing coherence effects reported in photosynthetic complexes. I also reviewed recent work in quantum biology, biophotonics, and molecular computation to relate the simulations to real biological systems. Finally, I briefly reflect on ethical and societal questions that arise when quantum ideas are applied to biology and cognition. Overall, the project shows how quantum-inspired models can deepen our understanding of biological communication and open new directions in biomedical engineering and computational science.
This paper proposes a novel quantum computing model that leverages the dynamics of neuronal behavior as its foundational building blocks. Unlike conventional quantum computing approaches reliant on purely classical qubits, this model utilizes quantum systems designed to mimic the dynamic changes observed in biological neural networks, specifically at the level of synaptic connections. The core principle involves employing quantum superposition and interference to construct quantum bits (qubits) representing the state of these simulated synapses. Algorithm execution is achieved through precise manipulation, or "quantum tuning," of these qubits. The proposed architecture represents a biologically-inspired paradigm shift in quantum computation, potentially offering advantages in terms of computational efficiency and resilience, particularly for problems exhibiting inherent biological complexity. This work outlines the theoretical framework, key equations, and the fundamental principles driving this new approach to quantum information processing.
Every process of our universe is based on the fundamental elements of nature: information and computation.The basic motivation behind the study of quantum cellular automata (QCA) is the wish to analyze the processes of nature.QCA provide a natural framework within which to describe many classically undescribable and uncomputable physical phenomena, such as the properties of quantum physical systems and the complex background of quantum dynamics.Quantum cellular automata models are based on the working mechanism of classical cellular automata models and use the power of reversible quantum computation.Cellular automata can be used in many fields of science, such as parallel computation, artificial intelligence, image processing, biological systems, simulation of physics systems, hardware design, algorithm theory, and many more.In the first part of this chapter, we give a brief overview of the basic properties of quantum information processing and analyze the quantum versions of classical cellular automata models.We present all materials in a clear, perspicuous, and comprehensible manner, without using a complex mathematical background.After reviewing physical QCA implementations, we sketch future directions, and then conclude the first part.In the second part of the chapter, we examine one possible application of QCA, which uses quantum computing to realize real-life based, truly random network organization.This abstract machine is called a Quantum Cellular Machine (QCM), and we design it for controlling a truly random biologically-inspired network, and to integrate quantum learning algorithms and quantum searching into a controlled, self-organizing system.The selforganizing processes in classical systems cannot be truly random.Using our quantum probabilistic QCM unit, we can add truly random behavior to the self-organizing processes of biological networks.A quantum mechanical-based quantum cellular machine (QCM) controls the self-organizing processes of the network and uses a closed, non-classical quantum mechanical-based language inside the QCM.The proposed QCM solution has deep relevance in the evolution of truly random quantum probabilistic self-organizing network structures.The QCM controls the evolution of the system, changes its environment and creates plans without any human interaction, using truly random quantum probabilistic decisions.In a classical system, the classical circuits can only exhibit deterministic behavior.In a quantum probabilistic control system, the quantum circuits can follow both deterministic and quantum probabilistic quantum cellular machine control behaviors.The QCM has classical and quantum communication layers, it uses the classical layer to detect www.intechopen.comCellular Automata -Innovative Modelling for Science and Engineering 114 the network environment.The lower layer of the quantum cellular machine contains the non-deterministic quantum probabilistic decisions and interacts with the classical level.The quantum cellular machine model with the power of quantum computing can be used for the development of a real-life based network organism.We show, that a real, biologically inspired, non-deterministic, truly random network model can be achieved by the discussed QCM model.In the third part of this chapter, we show that a very efficient quantum searching algorithm can be integrated into the QCM, to find the best solution to a given network input command.We present a quantum searching based method specially designed for quantum probabilistic self-organizing networks, to reduce the complexity of the classical traditional search in the network.The proposed QCM can process both quantum and classical information, and accomplish both deterministic and quantum probabilistic tasks.The information unit is a quantum bit, which can lie in a coherent superposition state of logical states zero and one, and can thus simultaneously store zero and one.Using quantum bits, we can speed up the solutions of classical problems, and even solve some hard problems that classical computers can't solve.The key aspect behind the optimal decisions of a QCM is to design a high-efficiency searching algorithm.A QCM updates the probability amplitudes of its quantum register, according to a given reward value, derived from the network environment.The QCM repeatedly applies a unitary transformation to the quantum states, thus it can enhance, for example, the probability amplitude of the optimal path in the self-organizing network environment, while suppressing the amplitude of all other solutions.The QCM's quantum searching algorithm can help resolve many hard tasks, for example it could be applied to find an optimal logical path, using the effects of quantum mechanics.In the numerical analysis we will show that the quantum communication layer could improve the performance of classical systems.