Research Update  |
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Since World Community Grid's launch in November 2004, more than 700,000 devices have been registered. The
computer power that our volunteer community has donated equals one PC running nonstop for more than
110,000 years. At present, volunteers are donating an average of 1,100 years of compute time per week!
As a result, World Community Grid is running four projects and has completed four. More details about each
project is provided below. Our newest projects — AfricanClimate@Home and Discovering Dengue
Drugs – Together — also are featured in this newsletter.
In addition, in 2007, we expect to launch one new cancer project and begin working on the second phase of Discovering
Dengue Drugs – Together project. For 2008, our queue includes a cancer project, a malaria project,
and Phase 2 of the Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy project.
If you know of an organization that is interested in running research on World Community Grid, please
point them to the Submit a Proposal page.
Active Projects
AfricanClimate@Home: Sponsored by the University of Cape Town in South Africa, this project is developing
more accurate climate models of specific regions in Africa. This will serve as a basis for understanding
how the climate will change in the future so that measures designed to alleviate the adverse effects of
climate change can be implemented.
In Depth Research Description
Status Report
Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together: Sponsored by the University of Texas Medical Branch and the
University of Chicago, this project is identifying novel drugs to combat flavivirus infections that cause
dengue hemorrhagic fever, West Nile encephalitis, yellow fever, hepatitis C, and other illnesses.
In Depth Research Description
Status Report
FightAIDS@Home: FightAIDS@Home is using computational methods to identify new candidate drugs to block
HIV protease, a key molecular structure that when blocked, stops the virus from maturing and thus is a way
of avoiding the onset of AIDS and prolonging life. Thanks to the volunteer power of World Community Grid,
researchers at The Scripps Research Institute were able to complete 5 years of research in just 6 months. This
project, which is sponsored by The Olson Laboratory at Scripps, was launched in November 2005 and is expected
to run through 2008.
The initial results from FightAIDS@Home were published in the ACS Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling
in a paper is entitled "Analysis of HIV wild-type and mutant structures via in silico docking against diverse
ligand libraries." Two additional scientific papers are also in preparation.
In Depth Research Description
Status Report (PDF)
Human Proteome Folding – Phase 2: This project is focusing on a small number of proteins that are
key markers for disease diagnosis and impact, with a special focus on proteins linked to malaria and
cancer. The Human Proteome Folding – Phase 2 project, which is sponsored by the Bonneau Laboratory at
New York University, was launched in October 2006 and is expected to run through December 2008.
In Depth Research Description
Status Report
Completed Projects
Genome Comparison: The Genome Comparison Project performed pair-wise
comparisons among and between all
genes for all sequenced organisms (from human beings to fruit flies to yeast) and built a database of
the results. Because most of the proteins (which are the machinery that ultimately make everything in
cells work) coded by these genes have not had their functions identified, this database will be very
helpful in determining the functions of these proteins. If the gene coding for a protein of unknown
function is similar to another gene which has been extensively studied in another organism, then most
probably the function of the unstudied protein is somehow related to the function of the known one. Because
the database will be available to the research community, other scientists will have a huge headstart
in understanding what these proteins do, how they play a role in disease processes, and ultimately in
understanding how to devise a drug to combat a disease involved with the particular protein in question. This
project, sponsored by Fiocruz in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, finished in July 2007. As the researchers
provide us with updates, we will post them here.
In Depth Research Description
Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy - Phase 1: Neuromuscular diseases impair proper muscle function by either directly
impairing muscles or the nerves that control them. Most of these disorders have been found to have
genetic origins, with more than 200 genes identified. Much is still unknown about how these genes and
their proteins function in the disease process. Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy used the computing power of
World Community Grid to search for binding sites between the proteins, genes, their genetic variations,
and ligands (potential drugs) involved in these diseases, with a particular focus on muscular dystrophy. This
will reveal more specifically how the components interact, which should ultimately lead to a better
understanding of the role the proteins play in these complex diseases and hopefully lead to improved
treatments. Phase 1 of this project, which is sponsored by the Decrypthon Program in Paris, France,
finished in June 2007. Researchers are now analyzing the results in preparation for phase 2, which is
expected to begin the summer of 2008. Periodic updates will be provided by the researchers in the
Forums.
As the researchers
provide us with updates, we will post them here.
In Depth Research Description
Help Defeat Cancer: Help Defeat Cancer used the power of World Community Grid to analyze tissue
microarrays (TMA) — a breakthrough investigative tool that will give researchers improved understanding
of cancer biology and could uncover new sub-classifications of cancer that will point to more accurate
prognosis for cancer patients and new, more effective courses of treatment. The project finished running
in July 2007, and the researchers are now analyzing and preparing to publish the results. As the
researchers provide us with updates, we will post them here.
In Depth Research Description
Human Proteome Folding – Phase 1: The first phase of Human Proteome Folding finished in July 2006, having
mapped all of the proteins in the Human Genome, as well as several other organisms to determine their
shape and function.
The first peer-reviewed article based on this research has been published in the scientific journal
PLoS Biology, a general biology journal published by the Public Library of Science, a nonprofit organization
of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a public
resource. The paper demonstrates that using the computational power of World Community Grid, researchers were
able to validate a new and more efficient way to understand protein structure that is just as reliable as
other existing methods.
The results of this project are in the public domain for other researchers to leverage. As the researchers
provide us with updates, we will post them here.
In Depth Research Description
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