quantum computers are an entirely new type of computer that can carry out very difficult tasks in just minutes they can solve complex problems that would take Millennia to compute on even the largest classical supercomputers the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing program aims to build quantum computers and invent new algorithms that solve difficult and complex problems in life science so what is a quantum computer a classical computer is digital which means it computes using two states zero and one a quantum computer is different because it relies on Quantum bits cuits for short a cuit can be 0o 1 or a mixture of the two states this is called superp position the cubits provide exponentially more computational power and a more sophisticated computer language to operate with what can quantum computers be used for quantum computers can rapidly solve many search and optimization problems one example is the search for a specific document through a stack of documents a classical computer would go through the entire stack one by one a quantum computer on the other hand would search for all documents in parallel and use a Quantum algorithm to find the right document faster the abilities of the quantum computer also have the potential to provide revolutionary new insight into the life sciences for example a quantum computer can be used to calculate the form and function of proteins a fundamental biological building block for Life proteins have a very complex structure they can be viewed as one-dimensional strings with encoded information the complexity of proteins and their functionality lie in the folding where the one-dimensional string becomes three-dimensional not even the most rapid classical computers can generally predict the potential outcomes of these foldings and their implications a quantum computer can use its exceptional computational power and a different approach to help to predict these foldings this can enable scientists to understand much better how proteins function and interact with each other which can help in understanding the origins of disease and in significantly advancing drug Discovery similarly a quantum computer can help to solve many other problems it can play a key role in the green transition where it can help to design more efficient materials for the renewable energy sector such as such as solar panels cables with less energy loss and advanced batteries for the transport sector it can also assist in topics such as image recognition Diagnostics and genetic analysis fulfilling this potential requires developing a fully functional quantum computer and clever new Quantum algorithms this is the aim of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing program you just