Russian scientists began to use quantum technologies to diagnose cancer

MOSCOW, February 13 Quantum technologies are being used in the medical field and pharmaceuticals: Russian scientists have begun experimenting with them for diagnosing and treating cancer, according to the analytical report “Quantum Technologies for medicine», prepared by experts invited by Roscongress to the Forum of Future Technologies — 2024. The document is available.
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“The potential of quantum technologies in general and quantum computers in particular has not yet been fully revealed, but they will definitely find their application in medicine,” the document says. Experts note that some companies have already begun experimenting with quantum computing devices.

“For example, the genome assembly technique using quantum algorithms developed by the Russian Quantum Center, Kubord and Genotek has greatly facilitated the study of new species and structural changes in DNA that cannot be detected by mapping, and genomic rearrangements in cancer cells,” the statement says. document.

«The potential of quantum machine learning could be used to discover new biomarkers for cancer treatment. A number of research in the field of quantum machine learning are aimed at studying genetic diseases — quantum algorithms have been developed that can classify genomic data much faster than an ordinary computer,” experts say.

Among the most promising areas, the report also named the use of highly sensitive quantum magnetic field sensors. “With the help of quantum sensors, it is possible to measure and visualize biomagnetic fields, which in the future will make it possible to diagnose brain tumors, epilepsy and Alzheimer's syndrome non-invasively and with greater accuracy than existing methods such as EEG and MRI,” the document notes.
However, quantum technologies also pose new threats, in particular related to access to personal data. To protect information in the conditions of the existence of a quantum computer, it is necessary to introduce post-quantum cryptographic algorithms that will keep the data on which calculations are carried out secret, the authors emphasize.