Congrats to Alán Aspuru-Guzik for landing a spot on MIT Tech review’s 2010 Young Innovators under 35:
In theory, quantum mechanics should offer perfect understanding of some of the most interesting events in chemistry–for example, the behavior of excited electrons, which controls such things as photosynthesis in plants. In practice, however, the necessary calculations are far too difficult for even the most powerful computers. So approximations must be made, especially when larger molecules such as proteins are involved.
Alán Aspuru-Guzik, a theoretical chemist at Harvard, is developing methods that could one day do away with the need for approximations altogether–and lead to better drugs or solar cells.
Hey I didn’t know Alán could supply me with better drugs 😉