Singapore Researchers Leverage Quantum Computer to Revolutionize Drug Discovery

Researchers from Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the National University of Singapore, and Nanyang Technological University have successfully used an IBM quantum computer to test a new method for molecular docking.

The team developed a hybrid quantum-classical approach that uses six qubits to represent 18-variable problems and five qubits to represent 14-variable problems. This is more efficient than traditional methods, which typically assign each choice in a problem to one qubit.

The researchers used the method to examine how two small molecules bind to proteins, with promising results. The quantum computer identified the same molecular contacts as conventional computer calculations for both test cases.