Cleveland Clinic Team Simulates Largest Known Protein Using Quantum Computers

A team of researchers from Cleveland Clinic, RIKEN, and IBM has made significant progress in simulating large biologically meaningful molecules using quantum computers. The team's breakthrough achievement was recognized by being named a finalist for the prestigious ACM Gordon Bell Prize in 2026.

The team successfully simulated a 12,635-atom protein, the largest known to be modeled using quantum computers. To achieve this result, they combined the strengths of quantum and classical computing methods in a framework called quantum-centric supercomputing.

The ACM Gordon Bell Prize recognizes outstanding achievements in high-performance computing. The team's work demonstrated the potential for quantum-centric supercomputing in life sciences research by achieving significant improvements in accuracy and reducing computational overhead.