CHIROLE - The quantum role of chirality in biology by all-optical experiments.

ID Call: ERC-2024-STG ERC Starting Grant

Sapienza's role in the project: Host Institution

Principal Investigator: Claudia Fasolato

Department: Physics

Project start date: July 1, 2025

Project end date: June 30, 2030

Abstract:

Chirality is the lack of mirror symmetry, and it is a widespread property in biological systems, from atomic arrangements in molecules (e.g. the helical structure of DNA) to macroscopic structures (e.g. the shape of seashells). Fascinatingly, a quantum behavior associated to molecular chirality has been recently established: experiments proved that the electron transport through chiral molecules is spin selective. Thus, the mobility of electrons with a specific spin orientation relative to the chiral axis of the molecule is favored. The phenomenon is known as chiral induced spin selectivity (CISS). The CISS effect gives rise to transient spin polarization in molecules where the electron distribution reorganizes, for example as an effect of intermolecular interactions. 

CHIROLE aims at unraveling the origin and implications of these transient spin effects in chiral biomolecules, to determine if - and to what extent - CISS impacts biological interactions. The CHIROLE team will implement advanced optical spectroscopy experiments, using pump-probe methods and exploiting magneto-plasmonic nanobiosensors, to assess the role of CISS in intermolecular interactions involving DNA. By linking quantum physics with the biological functions, CHIROLE is an intrinsically interdisciplinary project and holds the promise of advancing our understanding of the role of chirality in a quantum biology frame.