They have borrowed the SETI@home model and are going to use it for AIDS research.
link The project, dubbed FightAIDS(at)Home, involves virtual testing of hundreds of thousands of chemical compounds to see how they react to a particular protein of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.
Computations use a 3-D modelling technique, which will show whether chemical compound molecules will attach themselves to the much larger HIV protein molecule - and exactly where on its structure, said project leader Dr. Arthur Olson.
Sifting through known chemical compounds without a supercomputer would take an estimated 100 years, said Litow. With IBM's World Community Grid, the initial work to select compounds for drug development should be completed in a year.
Joining the grid is as simple as downloading special software from
Link to software (which works with both Windows-and Linux-based systems) and leaving the PC powered-up and connected to the Internet. The grid program kicks in when the PC isn't in use - whether it's for five minutes, overnight or for several days - and shuts down when the owner returns to the keyboard.
