Quantum behavior without impossible computing power
Since 1660, the Royal Society has served as one of humanity's most enduring measures of scientific achievement, and this year it has extended that recognition across the Atlantic to two Caltech researchers whose work probes the deepest logic of life and matter. Garnet Chan, a theoretical chemist who simulates the quantum behavior underlying photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation, has been named a fellow, while synthetic biologist Michael Elowitz, who engineers living circuits capable of computation and healing, joins as a foreign member. Their election speaks to a larger turning in science itself — a moment when the ability to simulate nature's rules and redesign nature's components has become as consequential as any discovery made at a laboratory bench.
- Two of Caltech's most distinctive scientific minds have earned entry into one of the world's oldest and most selective scientific bodies, a distinction granted to fewer than a hundred researchers globally each year.
- Chan's quantum simulations push against the limits of what computation can reveal about fundamental chemistry — tackling systems so complex that understanding them has long seemed out of reach.
- Elowitz's synthetic circuits blur the boundary between biology and engineering, with his lab now building systems capable of identifying and destroying cancer cells with a precision nature never evolved on its own.
- Together, their elections signal that computational and synthetic biology are no longer peripheral disciplines but central forces reshaping how science understands and intervenes in the natural world.
- An institution nearly four centuries old has, in recognizing Chan and Elowitz, placed its imprimatur on the questions most likely to define scientific inquiry in the decades ahead.
Two Caltech professors have been elected to the Royal Society, the British scientific academy chartered by King Charles II in 1660 — one of the oldest and most prestigious scientific bodies in the world. Garnet Chan was named a fellow, and Michael Elowitz a foreign member, joining more than ninety scientists honored by the society this year.
Chan holds the Bren Professorship in Chemistry and directs Caltech's Marcus Center for Theoretical Chemistry. His research lives at the crossroads of quantum mechanics, condensed matter physics, and computational science, using simulation to illuminate how atoms and electrons behave in systems as consequential as those driving photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. Trained at Cambridge, he joined Caltech in 2016 and was appointed director of the Marcus Center in 2025. He is already a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Elowitz, the Dickinson Professor of Biology and Bioengineering and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, approaches science from a different direction entirely. His laboratory studies how genes and proteins collaborate to produce the behaviors of living cells — differentiation, communication, memory — and has demonstrated that nature's complexity can sometimes be replicated with surprisingly few components. His team has more recently turned toward medicine, engineering circuits that may one day selectively target and destroy cancer cells. He joined Caltech's faculty in 2003, holds memberships in both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2007.
Royal Society president Sir Paul Nurse described this year's cohort as representing the highest standards of scientific work. The recognition of Chan and Elowitz reflects a broader shift in science toward computational and synthetic approaches — and suggests that the questions these two researchers are asking will remain at the frontier of human inquiry for years to come.
Two Caltech scientists have been elected to the Royal Society, the scientific institution that has stood at the center of British intellectual life since King Charles II granted it a charter in 1660. Garnet Kin-Lic Chan, who holds the Bren Professorship in Chemistry and directs the Rudolph A. Marcus Center for Theoretical Chemistry, was named a fellow. Michael Elowitz, the Roscoe Gilkey Dickinson Professor of Biology and Bioengineering and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, was named a foreign member. They join more than 90 scientists elected to the society this year.
Chan's work sits at the intersection of theoretical chemistry, condensed matter physics, and quantum information theory. His laboratory uses quantum mechanical simulations to study how atoms and electrons behave in complex systems—the kind of fundamental understanding that underpins processes like photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation, two of nature's most consequential chemical reactions. Over the past decade, his group has developed and refined multiple computational approaches to simulate these quantum systems, work that requires both mathematical sophistication and deep chemical intuition. Chan came to Caltech in 2016 as the Bren Professor after earning his undergraduate degree from Cambridge in 1996 and his doctorate from the same university four years later. He was appointed director of the Marcus Center in 2025 and is already a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Elowitz approaches biology from a different angle: he studies how genes and proteins interact to create the behaviors cells exhibit—how they differentiate into specialized types, communicate with neighbors, perform computations, and retain memory of past events. His laboratory has engineered synthetic biological circuits that can generate multiple stable states using only a handful of protein components, a finding that suggests nature's complexity may be achievable through elegant design. More recently, his team has begun building circuits with therapeutic potential, including systems that could recognize and selectively destroy cancer cells. This work bridges the gap between basic biological understanding and medical application. Elowitz earned his BA from UC Berkeley in 1992 and his PhD from Princeton in 1999. He joined Caltech's faculty in 2003, became a full professor in 2010, and received the Dickinson Professorship in 2024. Beyond his election to the Royal Society, he is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2007 he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.
Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society, said in a statement that the newly elected members represent the highest standards of scientific work, whether they are advancing vaccine development or exploring how mathematics and computation can transform our understanding of the natural world. The election of Chan and Elowitz reflects a broader recognition that the future of science lies increasingly in the computational and synthetic domains—in the ability to simulate nature's rules and to redesign nature's components for human benefit. Both scientists exemplify this shift, and their recognition by an institution nearly four centuries old suggests that the questions they are asking will shape scientific inquiry for years to come.
Notable Quotes
Their contributions reflect the highest standards of scientific endeavour. Whether advancing our understanding of vaccines or exploring the transformative potential of mathematics and computation, their work exemplifies the enduring value of curiosity, creativity and rigorous inquiry.— Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What makes Chan's work in quantum simulations different from just running calculations on a computer?
It's not just computation—it's about finding the right mathematical language for systems that classical physics can't describe. When you have hundreds of electrons interacting in a metallocluster, you can't track each one individually. Chan's methods let you capture the essential quantum behavior without needing impossible amounts of computing power.
And Elowitz is doing something almost opposite, isn't he? Building biology rather than simulating it?
Yes, but with the same underlying logic. He's asking: if I understand how genes and proteins interact, can I wire them together like circuit components to create new behaviors? It's synthetic, but it's grounded in real biological principles.
Why does the Royal Society care about two Americans?
Because good science doesn't have a passport. The Royal Society has always elected the best minds regardless of nationality. Chan and Elowitz are doing work that matters globally—one is unlocking how nature's most important chemical reactions work, the other is learning to reprogram cells. That's the kind of thing a 366-year-old institution recognizes.
Does this election change what they'll do next?
Probably not their research direction, but it's a form of validation that opens doors. It signals to funding agencies, to other institutions, to students, that this work is at the frontier. It also connects them to a network of the world's leading scientists—that matters more than people realize.