Niazi Sarfaraz K
College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60012, USA.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 May 13;26(10):4658. doi: 10.3390/ijms26104658.
The Schrödinger equation, Heisenberg's uncertainty principles, and the Boltzmann constant represent transformative scientific achievements, the impacts of which extend far beyond their original domain of physics. As we celebrate the centenary of these fundamental quantum mechanical formulations, this review examines their evolution from abstract mathematical concepts to essential tools in contemporary drug discovery and development. While these principles describe the behavior of subatomic particles and molecules at the quantum level, they have profound implications for understanding biological processes such as enzyme catalysis, receptor-ligand interactions, and drug-target binding. Quantum tunneling, a direct consequence of these principles, explains how some reactions occur despite classical energy barriers, enabling novel therapeutic approaches for previously untreatable diseases. This understanding of quantum mechanics from 100 years ago is now creating innovative approaches to drug discovery with diverse prospects, as explored in this review. However, the fact that the quantum phenomenon can be described but never understood places us in a conundrum with both philosophical and ethical implications; a prospective and inconclusive discussion of these aspects is added to ensure the incompleteness of the paradigm remains unshifted.
薛定谔方程、海森堡不确定性原理和玻尔兹曼常数代表了具有变革性的科学成就，其影响远远超出了它们最初所在的物理学领域。在我们庆祝这些基本量子力学公式诞生一百周年之际，本综述考察了它们从抽象数学概念到当代药物发现与开发中重要工具的演变。虽然这些原理描述了亚原子粒子和分子在量子水平上的行为，但它们对于理解诸如酶催化、受体 - 配体相互作用和药物 - 靶点结合等生物过程具有深远意义。量子隧穿作为这些原理的直接结果，解释了尽管存在经典能量障碍但某些反应仍能发生的原因，从而为以前无法治疗的疾病带来了新的治疗方法。正如本综述所探讨的，对100年前量子力学的这种理解现在正在创造具有多样前景的创新药物发现方法。然而，量子现象可以被描述却永远无法被理解这一事实，使我们陷入了一个具有哲学和伦理意义的难题；本文还增加了对这些方面的前瞻性和无定论的讨论，以确保该范式的不完整性保持不变。
