RCN: Instrumentation for Quantum Biology (I-QuBio)

生活在低生命环境中的某些藻类在光合作用过程中能量转移的高效率被认为是由于量子效应。这只是生物学中可能的量子效应的一个例子。微妙的量子效应可能会影响和优化生物过程，这一诱人的可能性既是一个令人兴奋的前沿，也是对研究界的一个极端挑战，因为他们试图了解支配生命过程的机制。这个项目解决了在明确证明或驳斥关于生命系统中量子效应的假设方面存在的实验瓶颈。量子生物学仪器研究协调网络(I-QuBio RCN)将把来自世界各地的不同的科学家社区聚集在一起，合作开发被称为“量子生物学”的领域的方法。量子生物学是一项前沿性的科学工作，需要能够跨越科学边界进行交流的新一代跨学科研究人员。通过混合的面对面/在线研讨会和培训学校，这个网络将为量子生物学从业者提供社区，讨论和推进在不久的将来推进该领域所需的实验基础设施。I-QUB RCN将加强新生的量子生物学社区在几个轴上的连接：地理学；跨学科；实验和理论之间的整合；从分子到整个生物体的不同规模的研究；以及职业阶段，重点是培训和整合年轻的量子生物学研究人员队伍。其目的是通过量子力学工具实现更好的测量，并将其应用于生物现象的精确测量。其目标是利用生物学提供的精细控制来开发与生物成像兼容的量子增强探测器。该项目由生物科学局分子和细胞生物科学部的分子生物物理学小组支持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The high efficiency of energy transfer during photosynthesis in certain algae that live in low life settings is believed to be due to quantum effects. This is just on example of possible quantum effects in biology. The tantalizing possibility that subtle quantum effects may influence and optimize biological processes presents both an exciting frontier and an extreme challenge to the research community as they seek to understand mechanisms that govern life processes. This project addresses the experimental bottleneck that exists in unambiguously proving, or refuting, hypotheses about quantum effects in living systems. The Instrumentation for Quantum Biology Research Coordination Network (I-QuBio RCN) will bring together a diverse community of scientists from around the world to collaborate on method development for the field known as “Quantum Biology”. Quantum Biology is a frontier scientific effort, requiring a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers who can communicate across scientific boundaries. Through hybrid in-person/online workshops and training schools, this network will provide quantum biology practitioners with community to discuss and advance the experimental infrastructure required to advance the field within the near future. The I-QUB RCN will increase the connectivity of the nascent community on Quantum Biology across several axes: geography; cross-disciplinarity; integration between experiment and theory; research across different scales ranging from molecules to whole organisms; and career stages, with an emphasis in training and integrating a young workforce of Quantum Biology researchers. The aim is to enable better measurement, through the tools of quantum mechanics and apply them to precision measurement of biological phenomena. The goal is to utilize the exquisite control that biology provides to develop quantum-enhanced probes that are compatible with biological imaging. This project is supported by the Molecular Biophysics Cluster of the Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Division in the Directorate for Biological SciencesThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.