AI and quantum physics are searching for life-saving drugs

When it comes to developing drugs, the human brain is its own worst enemy. Though our pre-frontal cortex – the most complex structure known in nature – has devised countless remedies for the body that keeps it alive, the organ itself is almost impervious to treatment. The problem is that the filter system that stops toxins passing from the bloodstream into the brain also tends to block the very medicines designed to cure what ails it – from deadly tumours to Azlheimer's, Parkinson's and depression. Pharmaceutical companies have been hammering on this door for decades. Now Noor Shaker (pictured, above) wants to make the molecular equivalent of a skeleton key.