Folding@Home COVID-19

Ink

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Jan 8, 2011
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More Information here: Covid19 – Folding@home

What we’re doing and how you can help

Proteins are molecular machines that perform many functions we associate with life. They sense the environment (e.g. in taste and smell), perform work (e.g. muscle contraction and breaking down food), and play structural roles (e.g. your hair). They are made of a linear chain of chemicals called amino acids that, in many cases, spontaneously “fold” into compact, functional structures. Much like any other machine, it’s how a protein’s components are arranged and move that determine the protein’s function. In this case, the components are atoms.​
Viruses also have proteins that they use to suppress our immune systems and reproduce themselves.​
To help tackle coronavirus, we want to understand how these viral proteins work and how we can design therapeutics to stop them.​
There are many experimental methods for determining protein structures. While extremely powerful, they only reveal a single snapshot of a protein’s usual shape. But proteins have lots of moving parts, so we really want to see the protein in action. The structures we can’t see experimentally may be the key to discovering a new therapeutic.​


Remember to only download the client software from Folding@home – Fighting disease with a world wide distributed super computer.
 

blacksheep

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Mar 8, 2020
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Don't want to sound like a jerk, but have anyone researched who is actually behind the company? It feels like you will become part of their botnet. I seen popping it on news, reddit and etc. But would be nice to someone to check their app and company.
 

Arequire

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Don't want to sound like a jerk, but have anyone researched who is actually behind the company? It feels like you will become part of their botnet. I seen popping it on news, reddit and etc. But would be nice to someone to check their app and company.
Folding@home is run by an academic institution (specifically the Bowman Lab, at Washington University's School of Medicine), which is a nonprofit institution dedicated to science research and education.
There's also a consortium of universities and research laboratories that have various involvements in the project:
 

plat

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Sep 13, 2018
1,793
Your concern surely is valid. There was this recently, which can influence your decision . I was leery of it but did some reading on trustworthy sites about it.

It seems Folding@Home has been around since 2006. I've run a few work cycles as part of a team with well over 19 billion points to its credit.

The Guru of 3D has its own sub-forum on this if anyone is interested. TechPowerUp is the team I contribute to. More info.


I just started with this a couple of days ago but it's been sporadic. At times there are glitches in the web console and you need to get info off the FAQ or in one of the forums like Guru 3D. The wiring in my bldg is old and iffy, otherwise I'd run it more often. Also, the cost of electricity around here makes it less attractive to run.
 

[correlate]

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Photo of Italian doctors after a work shift.
1585426342602.png
 

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