Some people may argue that rapid technological growth in the health sector will do more harm than good. Their reason being that if we keep permitting technological advancements in medicine, humans will begin to play less role and slowly we would lose the uniqueness of human diagnostic prowess. But this article is not a case of man vs machine, rather it's a case of machine vs machine!

Over the years, classical computers have done a good job in drug discovery by analyzing and cross checking chemical substances in their molecular levels.

But there is something better…….

Quantum Computers!

Quantum computers are computers that exploit quantum mechanics phenomena. It uses the laws of quantum mechanics (theory that describes the behavior of light and matter) to perform tasks. They are faster and more efficient than classical computers in performing tasks. Even though classical computers are presently in use in drug discovery some deep research institutes/ academic institutions have started running quantum computers in the pipeline, preparing and coordinating them for future use.

Enough of the gibberish, how does this work?

Quantum computing works by Quibits instead of the regular bits that classical computers use.

Unlike regular bits that can be either 0 or 1 at a time, qubits can be 0 and 1 at the same time which is called superposition.

Another phenomenon that quantum computers possess is entanglement which is the interaction of quantum particles which are able to interact with each other no matter how distant they are.

Superposition here and entanglement there, what am I yapping?

These phenomena (entanglement and superposition) enable quantum computers to run many calculations at the same time and explore many solutions at once at incredibly high speed and efficiency.

How do you know the exact dress to purchase when you go to a boutique? You size them right? You see how they fit your body and fit whatever occasion(s) you have in mind to attend wearing them.

That's exactly what happens In the process of drug discovery, molecular interactions are analyzed which helps scientists have a full grasp of how certain substances interact at molecular level which is the foundation of drug discovery. These quantum computers do these interactions faster and better because of the phenomena explained above.

Do you feel this innovative steps will be disastrous or helpful to medicine?