At an international conference in Moscow, experts explained how new technologies in physics and neurobiology will help make a breakthrough in medicine.
Many have heard about quantum computers, but few understand what they are. But the use of quantum technologies in medicine is a very tangible and practical thing. This is what scientists spoke about at an international conference in Moscow, which was organized by the Russian Quantum Center, the Roscongress Foundation and Rosatom.
Today we can confidently say that quantum sensors will be widely used in medicine of the future. Unlike conventional sensors, they have a unique combination of two qualities - microscopic size and hypersensitivity. With their help, you can measure the temperature of each individual cell! Harvard scientists have shown that the temperature of cancer cells is higher than that of healthy cells. That is, using these sensors, it is possible, for example, to recognize malignant formations with high accuracy and localize them for removal without affecting healthy cells.
“We are working on the creation of a quantum sensor that can be placed inside a cell without disrupting its vital functions. He will be able to record magnetic fields, electrical impulses, and therefore determine the development of abnormal processes and localize the disease. For example, it will be possible to pinpoint the area in the brain that malfunctions and provokes the occurrence of, for example, epilepsy, depression and other mental disorders,”says Maksim Ostras, head of the M-Granat project for the development of supersensitive sensors for medicine.
At Stanford University School of Medicine, a team of scientists is working on the problem of using quantum technology to rejuvenate and program cells.
- We will be able to defeat aging, which is the main factor in the development of most diseases. Although there is no talk of immortality. A person still has biological age limits, my prognosis is 120–130 years. We are primarily talking not so much about life expectancy as about its quality, says Vittorio Sebastiano, a participant in the Stanford program.
Anthropologist and author of the Superhuman method, David Verdesi, is confident that a person's life can change dramatically. For many years he has studied consciousness in terms of religions and the latest discoveries in quantum physics and neuroscience.
- Humanity has been trying for thousands of years to understand the connection between the physical and the spiritual. The world culture stores knowledge about absolute enlightenment and existence outside the physical shell. Is this a real experience or just a human fantasy - who knows? It is quite possible that a quantum computer will help "program" the body and mind, and therefore create the ideal Human 2.0 - without disease and anxiety. It can be assumed that quantum technologies will lead us to immortality if they help preserve the consciousness of each person, transfer it to a certain avatar - be it a new biological shell or a robot, says David Verdesi.
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However, Antonio Malgaroli, a professor at the Italian University of San Rafaele and an expert in the study of the human brain, believes that, despite advances in the field of neuromedicine, human knowledge of how the brain works is still incomplete. It is not always clear how neurons form connections, their sequence and regularity, and this is important for predicting, preventing, diagnosing and localizing diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. And this is where quantum technology can revolutionize.
- The brain is the least studied human organ, it is an incredibly complex system consisting of hundreds of billions of neurons, and each neuron is a whole universe in itself. To fully understand all the processes in the brain, you need an equally complex device. It is likely that the quantum computer will become a worthy opponent and assistant to the human brain, Antonio Malgaroli reflects.
Gleb Sukhorukov, an expert in physical chemistry, professor of biomedical technologies at Queen Mary University of London, professor at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, said that scientists will soon understand how cells communicate with each other, what signals they transmit, and this will help stop the development of cancerous tumors.
- Any disease begins with some kind of failure in this communication. Physics and chemistry give us an idea of how this happens, there is only one thing missing - the power, technology for diagnosing these intercellular and interneuronal connections, - says the scientist.
Perhaps very soon new technologies will make even mind reading a reality.
- Quantum technologies will open up prospects for managing many processes. Even modern developments make it possible to visualize a signal from the cerebral cortex in the form of a fuzzy, but still a picture. And with the help of a quantum computer, we will probably really learn to read minds, says Maxim Ostras.
OKSANA NARALENKOVA
