Sanger deploys quantum computing to tackle genomic challenges
The team has been awarded $2 million to enter Phase 3 of the programme, which is designed to harness the power of quantum computing for the benefit of human health.
The Q4Bio Challenge aims to accelerate the development of quantum computing technologies by encouraging fast-paced computational innovation in order to solve important health challenges. Of the 12 teams that entered Phase 1, just six are now moving into Phase 3 after two competitive elimination rounds.
The overall goal of the team’s project is 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.
The work includes assembling genomes and pangenomes from DNA sequences, as well as matching specific DNA sequences into reference genomes and pangenomes – which is key for studying genetic variation.
Pangenomes are a representation of many different genome sequences that capture the genetic diversity in a population.3 By using quantum computers, the researchers aim to significantly reduce the time, and complexity of genomic information processing tasks.
As part of this final phase, the team also aims to encode and process an entire genome in a quantum computer – a potential world-first. The chosen genome is the bacteriophage PhiX174.
The sequencing of this bacteriophage’s genome for the first time famously earned Fred Sanger his second Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1980. Therefore, attempting to reliably encode its genome on a quantum computer is a significant benchmark for innovation in genomics and will mark a major milestone in both genomic science and quantum technology.
Dr James McCafferty, Chief Information Officer at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: “This is an extraordinary opportunity to bring together the power of genomics and the potential of quantum computing. Processing the PhiX174 genome with quantum technology not only builds on the work that Fred Sanger completed but it tests what is possible for quantum computing in modern biology."
Dr Sergii Strelchuk, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, previously a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge and principal investigator of the project, said: “This has been a fiercely competitive programme and the intensity of the challenge drives innovation at an incredible pace as we are hyper-focussed on completing the work in the 12 month deadline. Being part of Q4Bio is pushing us to solve complex genomic problems faster and with greater ambition than ever before."
Dr Shihan Sajeed, Q4Bio Programme Director at Wellcome Leap, said: “The ultimate goal of Q4Bio is to demonstrate the potential of quantum computing in solving critical health challenges. This team has shown remarkable innovation in the challenge so far, and we're excited to see how far they and our other projects in Q4Bio can push the technology in Phase 3."
In October 2024, Wellcome Sanger joined forces with Arm and Cambridge quantum computing giant Quantinuum in a round table organised by Business Weekly to showcase how the Institute was using QC to identify solutions to genomics issues. The event was held at the Cambridge offices of law firm Mills & Reeve.