Project seeks donations of unused computer power for Covid-19 research
Melanie May | 25 March 2020 | News
Stanford University’s Folding@home project is asking people to donate their unused computing power to further research on Covid-19.
The Folding@home project uses computing power to help study the process of protein folding to aid research on various diseases, including many forms of cancer, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s, and is currently focusing on Covid-19/Coronavirus as well and potential drug therapies.
By downloading Folding@home, people can donate their unused computational resources to the Folding@home Consortium. The data this helps it generate will be disseminated as part of an open science collaboration of multiple laboratories around the world. With many computers working towards the same goal, the Consortium hopes to help develop a therapeutic remedy as quickly as possible.
Thank you to everyone who has been donating their resources! Here are some answers to your frequently asked questions.
How can I donate my time for #COVID19? Download and install the client from https://t.co/boMq0tNn22; Under topic, select ‘ANY’ (1/8)https://t.co/yJaXvMHaDy
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— Folding@home (@foldingathome) March 16, 2020
Once downloaded, donors can choose to keep up to date with progress so far, including seeing a graphic representation of the protein they are helping research (which can also be used as a screensaver) or reading about the specific research they are helping, in real-time.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.