In a groundbreaking achievement, scientists have successfully translated and uploaded the complete genome of the hepatitis D virus (HDV) onto IBM’s 156-qubit Heron quantum computer. This marks the first time a real viral genome has been encoded in a quantum-compatible format for analysis.
The research team demonstrated key genomic tasks, including DNA sequence alignment, pangenome assembly, and evolutionary mapping, directly on quantum hardware. Researchers believe quantum computing could eventually tackle complex biological problems that overwhelm even advanced classical computers and AI systems.
While practical applications are still years away, this milestone could pave the way for faster disease tracking, improved rare disease research, and more efficient identification of disease-causing mutations, opening a new era in genomics and precision medicine.
Read more at LiveScience