What causes cells to age? It has long been suspected that free radicals can play an important role in this process. Free radicals are atoms or molecules that have one or more unarrayed electrons in the outer shell and thus become reactive. To study how free radicals affect our cells, it is necessary to study the molecules’ interactions at the atomic level. This is not possible even with the strongest microscope. But, instead of a microscope you can use a supercomputer.
Biophysics and quantum biologist Ilia Solov’yov, Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, explains in this podcast how he uses the supercomputer Abacus 2.0 to follow intricate biological mechanisms at the atomic level and investigates what happens when the atoms interact. In this way, he also hopes to be able to explain the ageing process in our cells.
Hear the podcast: https://vidensportal.deic.dk/podcasts
For more information see:
Journal of the American Chemical Society: Spontaneous Binding of Molecular Oxygen at the Qo-Site of the bc1 Complex Could Stimulate Superoxide Formation. Peter Husen and Ilia A. Solov’yov. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b04849.
