EECS Seminar: Quantum Biology - How Nature Harnesses Quantum Processes to Function Optimally and How Might We Control Such Quantum Processes to Therapeutic Advantage

Abstract: Imagine driving cell activities to treat injuries and disease simply by using tailored magnetic fields. Many relevant physiological processes, such as the regulation of reactive oxygen species; epigenetic changes to induce pluripotency; cell proliferation and wound healing; cellular respiration rates; ion channel functioning; and DNA repair were all demonstrated to be controlled by weak magnetic fields (with a strength on the order of that produced by your cell phone), very likely via the electron quantum property of “spin.” Research has not been able to track spin states to manipulate physiological outcomes in vivo and in real time without which the potential game-changing clinical benefits of quantum biology cannot be realized. With novel quantum instrumentation, we are learning to control spin states in cells and tissues as a goal to write the “codebook” on how to deterministically alter physiology with weak magnetic fields to therapeutic advantage. In the long-term, the electromagnetic fine-tuning of endogenous “quantum knobs” existing in nature will enable the development of drugs and therapeutic devices that could heal the human body in a way that is noninvasive, remotely actuated and easily accessible by anyone with a mobile phone.

Bio: Professor Clarice D. Aiello is a quantum engineer interested in how quantum physics informs biology at the nanoscale. She is an expert on nanosensors harnessing room-temperature quantum effects in noisy environments. Aiello received her bachelor's degree in physics from the Ecole Polytechnique; her M.Phil. in physics from the University of Cambridge, Trinity College; and her Ph.D. from MIT in electrical engineering. She also held postdoctoral appointments in bioengineering at Stanford and in Chemistry at Berkeley. Two months before the pandemic, she joined UCLA, where she leads the Quantum Biology Tech (QuBiT) Lab.