Imagine a future where medical treatments are more responsive, biological systems are easier to control, and disease can be detected earlier and more precisely. Reaching this future depends on understanding how life organises itself at the most fundamental, molecular level and how those processes might be guided or redesigned.

Many of the processes that sustain life occur at time and length scales far beyond what we can see. At the molecular scale, living systems organise themselves dynamically, forming temporary structures that control how cells function, adapt and respond to their environment. Understanding this hidden layer of organisation is essential for developing more effective therapies, diagnostics and biotechnologies.

Biomolecular condensates are emerging as a unifying framework for understanding and eventually shaping this molecular organisation.

Biomolecular condensates are dynamic, membrane‑less compartments that form when proteins and nucleic acids self‑assemble inside cells. Rather than being enclosed by physical boundaries, these structures arise through collective molecular interactions, allowing cells to concentrate and regulate biological activity with
remarkable flexibility.

Biomolecular condensates play a central role in organising life at the molecular level. They help regulate gene expression, coordinate biochemical reactions and
enable cells to respond rapidly to change. The same properties that make biomolecular condensates powerful biological tools also place them beyond the reach of many existing techniques.

Condensates are small, highly dynamic and governed by subtle molecular forces. Small changes in their composition or environment can significantly alter
their behaviour. In healthy systems, this adaptability is essential. In disease, however, condensates can become disrupted, contributing to conditions such as
neurodegeneration and cancer.

Understanding how condensates form and function, and how they might be controlled, requires new ways to measure molecular interactions with exceptional sensitivity.

Where quantum biotechnology enters the picture

Many of the key processes within biomolecular condensates occur at the nanoscale, where classical measurement tools struggle to capture weak and transient interactions. This is precisely the regime where quantum technologies offer new opportunities.

Ultra‑sensitive quantum sensors, advanced spectroscopic techniques and quantum‑informed simulations provide new ways to probe molecular organisation and dynamics. When combined with experimental platforms in molecular and cellular biology, these tools are allowing QUBIC researchers to characterise condensates with unprecedented precision.

QUBIC provides the environment where these capabilities come together, linking quantum science with biological experimentation and theory.

From insight to application

By learning how to control the formation and properties of biomolecular condensates, researchers could design programmable biomaterials with applications across
health and biotechnology, including:

• Smarter drug delivery systems that respond dynamically to their environment
• Synthetic bioreactors that organise complex reactions without rigid boundaries
• New diagnostic platforms that exploit condensate sensitivity to molecular change

These possibilities show how quantum biotechnology extends beyond measurement, opening pathways to designing and engineering living matter itself.

A unique capability at the molecular frontier

Biomolecular condensates sit squarely within QUBIC’s mission to apply quantum technologies where biological complexity is greatest and new tools are most needed. By uniting researchers across institutions and research themes, the centre connects fundamental molecular insight directly to biological relevance.

This work positions QUBIC to drive future advances in healthcare, diagnostics and biotechnology by revealing how life organises itself at the molecular scale and turning that understanding into capability.

A centre‑wide effort across themes

In 2025, researchers from three QUBIC nodes (University of Wollongong, The University of Queensland, and University of Technology Sydney) published a major review in Advanced Materials: Biomolecular Condensates as Emerging Biomaterials: Functional Mechanisms and Advances in Computational and Experimental Approaches. Spanning the Molecules, Cells and Brain themes, the review integrates expertise in molecular physics, chemistry, biology and computation to examine biomolecular condensates from multiple perspectives. It brings together advances in experimental techniques and computational modelling to reveal the physical principles that govern condensate behaviour, and to explore how these systems could be developed as a new class of functional biomaterials.

This is precisely the kind of problem QUBIC exists to solve, because progress depends on integrating physics, chemistry, biology and computation in ways
that individual disciplines, projects or institutions cannot achieve alone.

Read more about QUBIC’s Molecules theme

An extract from the 2025 QUBIC Annual Report. Read the full report here.