QDGA uses an innovative process to discover catalysts and reactants that enable new processes and improve the financial and environmental performance of existing chemical processes.
Quantum Genetics has developed a proprietary computer-based technique for developing industrial catalysts and reactants. The approach – known as Quantum Directed Genetic Algorithms (“QDGA”) – is built on research carried out at Northumbria University in partnership with major industrial chemical manufacturers.
Traditional lab-based catalyst development involves an entirely experimental approach. Chemists identify potential products based on prior experimental knowledge, prepare them by chemical synthesis, and evaluate their properties. This is both time-consuming and costly. In contrast, the QDGA method requires no prior knowledge other than a definition of the problem to be solved. Since the approach is entirely computer-based it can detect and develop product activity at levels far below those that can be detected experimentally. As a result, QDGA is orders of magnitude more exhaustive and much faster than current methods, resulting in significant cost reduction and the potential to build commercial advantage. When applied to large-scale industrial applications this has the potential to be highly disruptive.
A typical challenge is to design from scratch a molecule that will catalyze a specific chemical manufacturing process. The QDGA approach utilizes only the computer and intellectual domains - there is no need for experimental lab work.
Quantum Genetics’ experienced research team designs a bespoke ‘genetic code’ for each process under investigation. A computer model uses this code to simulate an evolutionary environment that favors the best catalysts for the target process. A large selection of ‘first generation’ candidate molecules is released into this virtual environment. A small number of distinct molecules survive each simulation run and are allowed to evolve through subsequent generation simulations until a molecule evolves that will perform the required catalysis. The results of a complete QDGA search are typically sufficiently developed to support patenting of the molecule and its corresponding application.