Could Plants Unlock Quantum Medicine’s Potential? with Greg Engel
Big Brains21 Aug 2025

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

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.

Follow Big Brains:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/big-brains-podcast/

X: https://x.com/BigBrainsUC


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

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(219)

Why Knowing Your True Self Is So Difficult, with Eric Oliver

Why Knowing Your True Self Is So Difficult, with Eric Oliver

The process of understanding who we are is a lifelong journey for many of us. For two decades, that question has been one that University of Chicago scholar Eric Oliver has asked his students in class...

22 Jan 31min

The Breakthrough Quantum Sensor That Sees Inside Your Cells, with Peter Maurer

The Breakthrough Quantum Sensor That Sees Inside Your Cells, with Peter Maurer

What if we could precisely measure a cell at its most fundamental level? In this episode, we talk with the University of Chicago scientist Peter Maurer about how he and his colleagues made the breakth...

8 Jan 35min

How to Manifest Your Destiny with the Late James Doty

How to Manifest Your Destiny with the Late James Doty

We've all heard the phrase "Manifest Your Destiny" when it comes to wanting a new promotion, figuring out a new career path or just trying to achieve that long-term goal. It turns out that the act of ...

29 Dec 202531min

What Makes Music Go Viral—From AI to Taylor Swift

What Makes Music Go Viral—From AI to Taylor Swift

The internet and social media have transformed the way in which we hear and understand music today—and online communities and platforms from YouTube to TikTok have changed how music circulates and ult...

11 Dec 202535min

How Wearable Tech Will Heighten Our Senses and Abilities, with Pedro Lopes

How Wearable Tech Will Heighten Our Senses and Abilities, with Pedro Lopes

Can you imagine a world in which a wearable device, like a smartwatch, could move your fingers to strum the guitar or play the drums? That kind of technology is part of the innovative research coming ...

24 Nov 202538min

Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington

Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington

More and more women in the United States are saying no to motherhood. In 2023, the U.S. fertility rate reached the lowest number on record. But the idea of non-motherhood is actually not a new phenome...

13 Nov 202532min

How Full-Body MRIs Could Predict Your Long-Term Health, with Daniel Sodickson

How Full-Body MRIs Could Predict Your Long-Term Health, with Daniel Sodickson

What does it mean to see beneath the surface — of the human body, the brain, or even the universe itself? In his new book, The Future of Seeing: How Imaging Is Changing Our World, Prof. Daniel Sodicks...

30 Okt 202534min

Is There Such A Thing As A Psychopath?

Is There Such A Thing As A Psychopath?

Few ideas have gripped the public imagination quite like the idea of the “psychopath.” From Hollywood thrillers to true-crime podcasts, popular culture has led us to believe that psychopaths are dange...

16 Okt 202535min

Populärt inom Utbildning

historiepodden-se
det-skaver
rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
johannes-hansen-podcast
allt-du-velat-veta
nu-blir-det-historia
roda-vita-rosen
not-fanny-anymore
rss-viktmedicinpodden
i-vantan-pa-katastrofen
sektledare
rss-dr-bjorklund
sa-in-i-sjalen
rss-foraldramotet-bring-lagercrantz
rss-basta-livet
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
rss-npf-podden
rss-traningsklubben