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Could Plants Unlock Quantum Medicine’s Potential? with Greg Engel

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Manage episode 501563757 series 2171007
Content provided by University of Chicago Podcast Network. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by University of Chicago Podcast Network or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

We’ve long marveled at how efficiently plants convert sunlight into energy—but no one guessed they were using quantum mechanics to do it.

In this episode, we speak with Greg Engel, a pioneering biophysicist at the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Department of Chemistry who helped launch the field of quantum biology. Engel explains how plants and bacteria evolved to exploit quantum effects for photosynthesis—and how understanding these systems could spark a revolution in quantum sensing, medicine, and neuroscience.

Engel’s team has already built quantum sensors inspired by nature’s designs, with the potential to transform how we detect disease, develop drugs, and even read neural signals. The ultimate goal? A new era of quantum medicine, powered by the weird and wonderful physics found in leaves. A new large gift is helping that mission along by establishing The Berggren Center for Quantum Medicine and Biology at The UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, partnering with BSD, UC Medicine and others.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  continue reading

204 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 501563757 series 2171007
Content provided by University of Chicago Podcast Network. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by University of Chicago Podcast Network or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

We’ve long marveled at how efficiently plants convert sunlight into energy—but no one guessed they were using quantum mechanics to do it.

In this episode, we speak with Greg Engel, a pioneering biophysicist at the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Department of Chemistry who helped launch the field of quantum biology. Engel explains how plants and bacteria evolved to exploit quantum effects for photosynthesis—and how understanding these systems could spark a revolution in quantum sensing, medicine, and neuroscience.

Engel’s team has already built quantum sensors inspired by nature’s designs, with the potential to transform how we detect disease, develop drugs, and even read neural signals. The ultimate goal? A new era of quantum medicine, powered by the weird and wonderful physics found in leaves. A new large gift is helping that mission along by establishing The Berggren Center for Quantum Medicine and Biology at The UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, partnering with BSD, UC Medicine and others.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  continue reading

204 episodes

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