The U.S. National Science Foundation has renewed the Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Quantum Sensing for Biophysics and Bioengineering, known as NSF QuBBE, with a five-year, $37.5 million investment aimed at transforming quantum sensing from an experimental concept into a practical toolkit for biology and medicine. The program will focus on technologies capable of detecting biological activity at molecular and nanoscale dimensions—events that are often too subtle, too fast, or too deeply embedded inside living cells for conventional instruments to observe. The renewal begins on September 1, 2026, and continues through August 31, 2031, marking a major commitment to a field that could reshape how scientists study disease, cellular communication, and the physical mechanisms of life.
Led by the University of Chicago in partnership with Chicago State University, the University of Illinois Chicago, Harvard University, and other collaborators, NSF QuBBE brings together researchers from quantum information science, chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, medicine, and education. At the University of Chicago, the effort spans the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, the Physical Sciences Division, the Biological Sciences Division, and UChicago Medicine. Its central challenge is both technical and biological: quantum sensors must be sensitive enough to detect minute signals, yet sufficiently stable and adaptable to function in the crowded, chemically complex environment of a living organism. Researchers also need to design sensors around biological questions from the beginning rather than developing quantum devices in isolation and searching for uses afterward.
Quantum sensors exploit the unusual behavior of matter and light at the quantum level. Properties such as spin, superposition, entanglement, and quantum coherence can make a system respond to tiny changes in magnetic fields, electric fields, temperature, pressure, or chemical surroundings. A sensor based on these effects may detect signals far below the threshold of traditional technologies. In biological research, that sensitivity could reveal how proteins change shape, how ions move through membranes, how neurons communicate, or how molecular machinery operates inside individual cells. The difficulty is that quantum states are fragile. Vibrations, heat, electromagnetic noise, and chemical interactions can destroy the very information that makes a quantum sensor powerful, so the devices must be engineered to preserve useful quantum behavior while operating in realistic biological conditions.
During its first phase, NSF QuBBE supported a range of approaches designed to overcome those challenges. Scientists developed genetically encodable qubits, nanodiamond sensors able to detect cellular activity, advances in high-field nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance, and methods that use entanglement to improve biosensing. A qubit is the quantum equivalent of a classical bit, but unlike a bit—which is either zero or one—a qubit can exist in a combination of both states until it is measured. That feature allows quantum systems to encode information about their surroundings with extraordinary precision. Nanodiamonds containing nitrogen-vacancy centers, for example, can act as nanoscale magnetometers. Their quantum states respond to magnetic fields, making it possible to track electrical or chemical activity near cells without necessarily disrupting the cells themselves.
One of the most striking developments supported by the institute came from research led by University of Chicago molecular engineering Associate Professor Peter Maurer and Liew Family Professor David Awschalom, together with collaborators. The team demonstrated that fluorescent proteins can function as spin qubits, suggesting that quantum sensors might eventually be produced directly inside living cells. Fluorescent proteins are already widely used in biology because researchers can attach their genetic instructions to those of a target protein and observe where it is produced or transported. Turning such a protein into a qubit adds a new possibility: the same biological machinery that places a fluorescent marker inside a cell could potentially position a quantum sensor with molecular precision.
The concept of a protein qubit addresses one of the most persistent problems in biological quantum sensing: placement. A diamond sensor can be extremely small by conventional standards, but it may still be difficult to deliver to exactly the right location inside a cell or tissue. A genetically encodable sensor, by contrast, could be manufactured by the cell itself and directed to a particular organelle, membrane, protein complex, or signaling pathway. According to Maurer, protein qubits could be roughly ten times smaller than diamond sensors while offering the possibility of precise intracellular targeting. Their quantum spin states could respond to local magnetic or electromagnetic environments, providing information about nearby biological processes. The technology remains at an early stage, but it points toward sensors that are not merely inserted into living systems—they are built as part of them.
The next phase of NSF QuBBE will concentrate on four connected goals: creating new quantum nanoprobes for biological sensing, exploring entanglement and squeezed states to improve measurement precision, advancing in vivo measurements, and speeding the adoption of quantum sensing across biology and medicine. Squeezed sensing reduces uncertainty in one measurable property of a quantum system by shifting uncertainty into another property that may be less relevant to the experiment. Entanglement, meanwhile, links quantum systems so that their measurement outcomes display correlations stronger than classical physics allows. In principle, these techniques could improve sensitivity beyond the limits of independent sensors, although maintaining entanglement in biological environments is a formidable experimental challenge.
Researchers will continue refining nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond while developing protein-based sensors capable of functioning in living systems. They will also combine advanced imaging, theoretical modeling, and computation to interpret the signals produced by quantum devices. The goal is not simply to create a sensor that can detect a physical quantity, but to connect that measurement to a meaningful biological event. A small change in a magnetic field, for instance, becomes scientifically valuable when it can be linked to the firing of a neuron, the activity of an enzyme, the movement of a molecular motor, or the early response of a tumor to treatment. Integrating the sensor with the biological question could help researchers decide which quantum properties matter most, how the sensor should be targeted, and how measurements can be translated into information physicians can use.
The institute is also building an educational and workforce pipeline intended to expand who can participate in quantum science. During its first phase, NSF QuBBE worked with Chicago State University to establish the Quantum Institute and Q-Cert, a one-year post-baccalaureate certification program in quantum science. The next phase is expected to include a quantum master’s program at Chicago State and closer integration among undergraduate, master’s, and Ph.D. training. This effort will complement the university’s Quantum Education, Science and Technology Center, known as CQuEST, which connects quantum research, microelectronics, education, and workforce development. At the University of Illinois Chicago, Associate Professor Minjung Ryu leads the Quantum Academy, which introduces Chicago-area high school students and teachers to quantum science through hands-on activities, research experiences, and educator training.
NSF QuBBE’s long-term ambition is to establish quantum sensing for biology and medicine as an accessible research field rather than a specialized capability available only to quantum laboratories. The institute plans to expand infrastructure, improve user access, and involve biologists, physicians, and other potential users in developing and testing the technology. Its work is also connected to the Berggren Center for Quantum Biology and Medicine, housed at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering in collaboration with UChicago Medicine and the Biological Sciences Division. The center is pursuing quantum technologies for healthcare while training physicians and physician-scientists to work across disciplines. If the program succeeds, future researchers may use quantum sensors to observe biology with a level of spatial and physical precision that conventional tools cannot provide—bringing previously invisible processes into view and potentially changing how disease is diagnosed, studied, and treated.
Subject of Research: Quantum sensing technologies for biophysics, bioengineering, biology, and medicine
Web References: https://www.nsf.gov/news/eight-nsf-research-institutes-propel-us-quantum-science-290m
Image Credits: Jason Smith
Keywords: Quantum sensing, quantum biology, quantum medicine, qubits, protein qubits, genetically encodable sensors, biophysics, bioengineering, quantum computing, nanodiamonds, nitrogen-vacancy centers, biological imaging, quantum science, molecular engineering, biomedical research
