World Community Grid Helps Conquer Cancer

Canadian researchers expect to accelerate the war on cancer thanks to World Community Grid.

In November 2007, World Community Grid and the research team from the Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) launched Help Conquer Cancer to analyze the structure of cancer-related proteins in order to develop drugs that may one day prevent these proteins from causing cancer. OCI is being joined in this effort by researchers from the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute in Buffalo, New York.

"We know that most cancers are caused by defective proteins in our bodies but we need to better understand the specific function of those proteins and how they interact in the body," said Dr. Igor Jurisica from OCI. "We also have to be able to identify them earlier in order to have the best chance of treating the disease — or potentially stopping it completely."

Dr. Jurisica and his team have already screened more than 9,400 unique human proteins that could be linked to cancer and have developed a sophisticated computer program to analyze 80 million additional images. This analysis would take conventional computer systems decades to complete. However, using World Community Grid, Dr. Jurisica anticipates that the analysis could be finished by 2010.

The results of the project will give healthcare professionals and researchers around the world access to the most comprehensive data on human biology and disease progression to date, building the infrastructure that could be used to help fight many different cancers, such as breast, prostate or childhood leukemia.

To learn more, please visit:
In Depth Research Description
Status Report

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