Encoding Genomes in Quantum States: A Conceptual Framework

Quantum computing offers a new paradigm for representing biological information, emphasizing the richness of quantum states rather than the size of qubit registers. This paper introduces a conceptual framework for genome encoding that extends the pioneering work of Sergii Strelchuk and colleagues, who demonstrated genomic representation with large qubit registers. By leveraging compositional biases in plant viral genomes—particularly adenine–thymine (AT) and uracil–adenine (UA) predominance—state‑based encoding achieves efficiency, compression, fidelity, and scalability. As a case study, we examine the Narcissus degeneration virus (NDV), an RNA potyvirus, and demonstrate codon mapping, reverse translation, and nucleotide‑to‑qubit assignment implemented on IBMQ hardware. This approach shows how fewer physical qubits can generate exponentially larger state spaces, enabling modular genome partitions within hardware constraints. Rather than replacing qubit‑based methods, state encoding complements and extends them, offering a natural evolution that honors foundational achievements while opening pathways for collaborative exploration in quantum genomics.