Basque quantum computer, key in the fight against Alzheimer’s

The Basque Department of Health leads the first research project of the Basque Government that will use the Euskadi quantum computer, a health initiative that seeks to “revolutionize” the fight against Alzheimer’sidentifying new therapeutic targets, key in the development of future drugs to treat this disease.

The IBM Quantum computer located in Donostia-San Sebastián, one of the few in the world with these characteristicsis an infrastructure in which the Basque Government has prioritized, among other purposes, its direct application in the field of health, as reported by the Executive in a statement.

This project, the result of an international strategic alliance between Basque Quantum, the Department of Health, through its Biobizkaia Health Research Institute, Osakidetza and IBM Cleveland Clinic, is the first health initiative in the Basque Country that will apply quantum computing to identify new therapeutic targets, key in the development of future drugs to treat Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s is a highly complex disease in which thousands of genes and biological processes are involved. Analyzing all these interactions with traditional computer methods is extremely difficult. To overcome this challenge, with this computer, the Department of Health will use quantum algorithms, an emerging technology capable of processing and analyzing large amounts of biological data with unprecedented computing power.

Specific algorithms

The Biobizkaia team is developing specific quantum algorithms to identify therapeutic targets and subsequently validate them in brain organoids. These are small tissue models developed in the laboratory from the patients’ own cells, which allows us to observe in a real and personalized environment whether the proposed treatments are effective.

Furthermore, the information obtained in the laboratory will serve to retrain and perfect the algorithms, creating a cycle of improvement continuous between technology and biology.

The working group created between Biobizkaia and Osakidetza, with researchers from the Computational Neuroimaging group Ibai Diez, Asier Erramuzpe, Ivan Carcamo, and Jesús M. Cortés, and Basque Quantum, exploits the possibilities of quantum algorithms in the field of health.

Although this work has begun with Alzheimer’s, The use of these algorithms in other diseases will also be explored.. The team also has a strategic alliance with IBM’s quantum health group at the Cleveland Clinic.