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Glowing biological quantum sensor could track how cells form

A quantum sensor based on a protein from bioluminescent jellyfish can be made by the body itself and it may be able to help us track how cells form or detect disease at an early stage

By Alex Wilkins

3 January 2025

A crystal jellyfish (Aequorea victoria)

A fluorescent protein based on one made by the bioluminescent crystal jelly can be used as a quantum sensor

Alex Archontakis/Alamy

Quantum sensors made from a glowing protein can be produced by living cells and could be used to much more accurately measure tiny changes in the body. This could one day help with early disease detection or tracking how cells form.

Sensors based on the quantum mechanical property of spin can measure temperature, magnetic fields and other phenomena much more sensitively than conventional devices. They have already been shown to work in living animals, such as detecting the magnetic…

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