IBM, United Devices and Accelrys aid DOD in search for smallpox cure.IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , United Devices and Accelrys have announced a project supporting a global research effort that is focused on the development of new drugs that could potentially combat the smallpox virus smallpox virus n. See variola virus. post infection. The project will be powered through a massive computing "Grid" that will enable millions of computer owners worldwide to contribute idle computing resources with the goal of developing a wide collection of potential anti-smallpox drugs. Results from the Smallpox Research Grid Project will be delivered to the United States Department of Defense's Office of the Secretary of Defense The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is part of the United States Department of Defense and includes the entire staff of the Secretary of Defense. It is the principal staff element of the Secretary of Defense in the exercise of policy development, planning, resource . According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. (CDC See Control Data, century date change and Back Orifice. CDC - Control Data Corporation ), there is currently no specific treatment for smallpox post infection, and the only prevention is vaccination; however, routine inoculation was discontinued following the WHO effort to eradicate smallpox. The Smallpox Research Grid Project will provide leading researchers at Oxford and Essex Universities in the UK and smallpox experts at the Robarts Research Institute The Robarts Research Institute is a non-profit medical research facility in London, Ontario, Canada with a staff of more than 600 people. Robarts scientists include physicians and physicists, biologists and biomedical engineers, and the range of diseases they study include heart , Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and The University of Western Ontario Western is one of Canada's leading universities, ranked #1 in the Globe and Mail University Report Card 2005 for overall quality of education.[2] It ranked #3 among medical-doctoral level universities according to Maclean's Magazine 2005 University Rankings. with the computing horsepower needed to identify new anti-viral drugs. The Smallpox Research Grid Project is based on technologies and services from IBM, United Devices, Accerlys and Evotec OAI (Open Application Interface) A computer to telephone interface that lets a computer control and customize PBX and ACD operations. . These commercially available technologies and services are currently used by many pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug companies to improve and accelerate their drug discovery and development processes. An emerging technology called Grid computing allows researchers to pool computing resources such as processing, network bandwidth and storage capacity for large research projects. The project employs computational chemistry to analyze chemical interactions between a library of 35 million potential drug molecules and several protein targets on the smallpox virus in the search for an effective anti-viral drug to treat smallpox post-infection. "IBM and the other project leaders encourage computer owners worldwide to consider joining in and donating their spare processing power for this worthwhile project to develop a new generation of drugs to combat smallpox," said Tom Hawk, general manager, Grid computing for IBM. "Grid computing is poised to launch a revolution in businesses, with life sciences being one of the key areas that will benefit through faster and more efficient drug modeling and development." Individuals can participate in the Smallpox Research Grid Project by downloading a screensaver at www.grid.org. The screensaver will unobtrusively donate the computer's idle processing power and link it into a worldwide Grid that will act as a virtual supercomputer capable of analyzing billions of molecules in a fraction of the time it would take in a laboratory. Once processing is complete, the program will send results back to United Devices' data center, powered by an IBM infrastructure, and will request new data to analyze. The new data will then be analyzed by the individual machine and the results returned the next time the computer user connects to the Internet. This project falls under the PatriotGrid category of research projects at www.grid.org. PatriotGrid is the world's first public research Grid dedicated specifically to counter bio-terrorism. Participants who sign up at www.grid.org will be able to take an active role in all research projects that fall into this category. "We've had great success using our massive Global MetaProcessor Grid to target anthrax and cancer research," said United Devices CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Ed Hubbard. "Helping to identify inhibitors for these targets that could lead to a cure for smallpox in this time frame is only possible using leading applications, an existing infrastructure and a proven grid solution. We're extremely proud to take part in this effort." "Through our donation of technology and scientific expertise, we hope to contribute to the elimination of smallpox as a potential weapon of mass destruction weapon of mass destruction (WMD) Weapon with the capacity to inflict death and destruction indiscriminately and on a massive scale. The term has been in currency since at least 1937, when it was used to describe massed formations of bomber aircraft. ," said Dr. Scott Kahn, chief science officer of Accelrys. "We're excited to partner with these top technology and bioresearch bi·o·re·search n. Research in the biological sciences. organizations in the fight against terrorism." |
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