Posted on 04/26/2005 12:32:03 PM PDT by LibWhacker
The researchers behind the Screensaver-Lifesaver project – which uses the ‘idle time’ of millions of computers worldwide to screen for anti-cancer drugs – are now turning their attention to fighting pancreatic cancer.
The Screensaver-Lifesaver project is run out of the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) Centre for Computational Drug Discovery under the direction of Professor Graham Richards, Chairman of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford.
In a recent joint statement with the NFCR and Dr. Daniel Von Hoff of the Center for Targeted Cancer Therapies at the University of Arizona and the Translational Genomics Research Institute, Professor Richards described how the new collaborative research project will target developing cancer drugs to fight one of the world’s most deadly cancer types, pancreatic cancer.
Using the screensaver technology, several newly identified protein targets related to the development of pancreatic cancer will now be screened against more than 3.5 million drug-like molecules as potential drug candidates.
‘The success of our cancer research programme based on the computational drug design programme has been very encouraging to this point. Over 10% of our hits in a pilot study are genuine drug target candidates, much better than the pharmaceutical industry expected,’ said Professor Richards.
Over 3 million computer users in over 200 countries now donate more than 10,000 hours of volunteer computer time to cancer research each month. The project is powered by Peer-to-Peer technology provided by United Devices and in silico simulation software from Accelrys, a similar technology platform for the Screensaver-Lifesaver project launched in 2001.
Individuals interested in participating can download the free screen saver at www.NFCR.org and click on the download screensaver button. The screen saver will run in the background on a user’s computer while the computer is idle and when connected to an internet connection, the user’s computer will download a target molecule and run the Ligandfit programme against a database of molecules.
When finished, the computer will then upload the results back to the central servers and download a new assignment.
Sorry to hear that. I know the survival rate is very, very low for cancer of the pancrease. I had a freind who was a pastor locally who went to the NIH. They are very good, I hear. I have a family member who is qualified for StageIV trials whenever they want (or need) to with either Mayo or Moffitt. I can NOT imagine being an oncologist. A friend of mine is one and he started out working on children and had to switch to adults because of the heartbreak. He would not have lasted had he stayed a pediatric oncologist. Ugh. Too much cancer talk today for one forum.
thanks.
These research projects don't need high speed bandwidth but prefer a 7x24 or at least daily internet connection, 256MB RAM and a high speed processor.
It was a bad way to go.The only good thing, versus instant death like a heart attack or something,was I got to visit him often and tell him everything I should have said many times years before.The last week was a bitch.
I don't understand it, that's for sure, lol! But I may sign up for it and drop SETI@home. I love SETI, but it has plenty of volunteers by now!
Current Project: Human Proteome FoldingGeneral research, very valuable, but not specifically targeted at cancer research. I'll reconsider installing it, but I'd hate to be donating computer time so some corporation can develop a better Viagra.
United Devices has begun a new and exciting research project -- the Human Proteome Folding Project -- in collaboration with the Institute for Systems Biology, the University of Washington, and IBM Corporation.Now you can volunteer your computer's excess compute resources to take on one of modern science's greatest challenges: Unraveling the protein structures hidden inside the Human Genome.
The Human Proteome Folding Project analyzes sequence data from the Human Genome to predict how the proteins coded there are likely to function. Since proteins directly affect human health and are key targets in developing disease treatments, understanding their structure and function is critical. At present only a fraction of human protein structures are known -- this project seeks to dramatically increase that number and make the data available to scientists for further study by the end of 2005.
I'm with you on that! If I'm going to help a company make a zillion dollars, I damned well expect a cut of it. At the moment I can't figure out if this Proteome Folding project has anything at all to do with Prof. Richards cancer work?
I downloaded the software but haven't installed it yet. I don't have a whole lot of time to look into stuff like this (takes away from my recreational internet surfing and game playing :-)), but I'll install it later and try to take a careful look at it, thanks!
There are teams on the site that one can join. And there is a FreeRepublic team!
They should give shares
An old friend told me that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The good news was that his doctors were going to try some promising new drugs. I tend to be an optimist. I called back in a couple of weeks and he was already dead. Ever since then I have wished that I had just dropped everything and travelled to visit him.
I'm sorry about your friend. It's a horrible and swift killer. I never realized it myself until my wife's mom died of it. Then we got to listen to "experimental treatment" pitch that everyone hears when they get some horrible disease. We went for it. But it did no good at all, of course, and might actually have made things worse for her.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.