Project is fueled by computing power from people's desktops, laptops, PlayStation consoles, powerful servers. FMTNews Virus
WASHINGTON: Gamers, bitcoin “miners” and companies large and small have teamed up for an unprecedented data-crunching effort that aims to harness idle computing power to accelerate research for a coronavirus treatment.
The project originally launched at Stanford University 20 years ago was designed to use crowdsourced computing power for simulations to better understand diseases, especially “protein folding” anomalies that can make pathogens deadly.The massive analysis looks for “pockets” or holes in the virus where a drug can be squeezed in.Druggable targets
“The best opportunity for the near-term future is if we can find an existing drug that can bind to one of these sites,” he said.This is likely to include drugs like the antimalarials chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine which may be “repurposed” for Covid-19. “There is no end to the compute power than we can use in principle,” Bowman said. Large tech firms including Microsoft-owned GitHub are also participating, and the project is in discussions with others.
Rhoads-Herrera said his team of security researchers, sometimes described as “white hat hackers,” were encouraging more people to get involved.Computer chipmaker Nvidia, which makes powerful graphics processors for gaming devices, called on gamers to join the effort as well.
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