At the Rome campus of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, the Quantum Metabolic Avatar has been developed, a model designed to deeply examine the biochemical reactions of human metabolism. The project consists of a “digital twin” capable of learning, adapting, and simulating the dynamics of the human body in response to nutrition, physical activity, or lifestyle changes.
Quantum intelligence at the service of biology
Quantum Metabolic Avatar was conceived by the team of Professor Giuseppe Maulucci, Associate of Physics for life sciences, environment, and cultural heritage, and Director of the Metabolic Intelligence Laboratory at the Department of Neurosciences of Università Cattolica.
The project was published in Expert Systems with Applications by Maulucci himself, with the collaboration of colleagues from the UOC Physics for Life Sciences of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, directed by Professor Marco De Spirito. The latter allowed for one of the first concrete examples of the application of quantum computation to real physiological data, finding in this project a direct impact on people’s health. This achievement not only marks scientific progress but also indicates a path towards increasingly personalized, predictive, and intelligent medicine.
The Quantum Metabolic Avatar stands out for being an intelligent model, powered by real individual data. Its peculiarity lies in its architecture, which is not based on classical Artificial Intelligence, but rather on the principles of quantum mechanics, utilizing quantum computers accessible via cloud connections. The capabilities of this invention are comparable to those of a “super-brain” that does not process information linearly, but simultaneously explores a multitude of scenarios, observing all possible metabolic trajectories at a single instant.
The avatar integrates daily information such as diet, physical activity level, and weight variations of a person, predicting future body dynamics a week in advance. This system functions as a “metabolic navigator,” indicating the direction the metabolism will take by maintaining certain habits.
A notable aspect is the ability of Quantum Metabolic Avatar to learn even from limited or incomplete data, a characteristic that makes it particularly suitable for the complexity of real data. Unlike classical algorithms that require ordered and abundant data, quantum algorithms behave like an off-road vehicle, effectively navigating even difficult terrains and identifying alternative paths.
Future perspectives
The ambition of Quantum Metabolic Avatar is for every individual to have their own personalized metabolic avatar, a dynamic and unique model.
This digital twin could provide answers to complex questions, such as why a person tends to gain weight easily despite a contained diet, or why another finds it difficult to lose weight despite dieting. Furthermore, it could indicate the most suitable drug or diet for the individual’s metabolism, or the best strategies to prevent future diseases.
In this context, the avatar is configured as an ally of precision medicine, surpassing standard treatments in favor of tailor-made strategies. It will also be possible to digitally test the effect of new drugs or supplements before administration to the patient, accelerating and making clinical studies safer.
The first verifications of the avatar, conducted on real data from people monitored with smart scales, wearables, and apps, have demonstrated the superiority of the quantum model over the classical one. Such results are a strong signal of the potential functionality of these systems in real clinical contexts, where data are never perfect.
Next steps include extending the avatar to other metabolic processes, such as glucose, lipid, or gut microbiota behavior. The aim is also to develop a generalized version that can also work for new people without extensive data history.
The objective is to make the Quantum Metabolic Avatar a practical tool to support both the doctor and the patient, marking the beginning of an era in which quantum computation, although still requiring time for widespread adoption, is already beginning to transform healthcare.
