If you learned about biology and quantum mechanics in the same course, it was probably in the form of two unrelated chapters in different parts of the syllabus in something like an integrated science class in high school.

Further on a scientific level, researchers note, quantum technology often requires isolation and temperatures close to absolute zero — which are not conditions that support life.

But quantum mechanics and biology are indeed related. The University of Chicago notes that simply on a fundamental level, quantum mechanics underlies everything — including biological molecules.

Now, researchers at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have taken that connection to another level — turning a protein found in living cells into a functioning quantum bit, or qubit.

What is a qubit? As explained by IBM, it's the basic unit of information used to encode data in quantum computing — the equivalent in a way of the traditional bit used in old-fashioned computers to encode data in binary.

While bits in classical computing revolve around voltage levels, qubits are usually created by "manipulating and measuring quantum particles (the smallest known building blocks of the physical universe), such as photons, electrons, trapped ions, superconducting circuits and atoms," IBM explained.

Specifically, qubits are typically produced using defects in the crystal lattice of diamonds. But the UChicago researchers engineered a biological protein for the purpose, and said in a news release that it can be used as "a quantum sensor capable of detecting minute changes and ultimately offering unprecedented insight into biological processes."

"Rather than taking a conventional quantum sensor and trying to camouflage it to enter a biological system, we wanted to explore the idea of using a biological system itself and developing it into a qubit," David Awschalom, the co-principal investigator of the project, said in the news release. "Harnessing nature to create powerful families of quantum sensors—that's the new direction here."

Engineered nanomaterials for quantum technology cannot be built directly by cells, but protein qubits can — and they can detect signals thousands of times stronger than current quantum sensors, UChicago explained.

In the future, the protein qubits could be used in quantum-enabled nanoscale MRIs to determine the atomic structure of the machinery of living cells — and transform biological research, UChicago said. Protein qubits could also advance quantum technology beyond biology, the university said.

The study employed genetically encoded fluorescent proteins, which the U of C said have become a crucial component of cellular biology — as they allow scientists to study processes going on within cells. Turning such a protein into a quantum censor will enable even more thorough and granular research on the subject, the university said.

The protein-based qubits do not currently rival the precision of the best quantum sensors made from deficits in diamonds — but they show immense promise beyond those sensors because they can be genetically encoded into living systems and made naturally by cells, UChicago said.

"[T]hey promise something far more radical: the ability to watch biology unfold at the quantum level, from protein folding and enzyme activity to the earliest signs of disease," the UChicago news release said.

The researchers' findings were published in the journal Nature on Aug. 20.