I have looked into the practical applications of Folding since most people seem to be at a loss for just what good our WUs are doing:
Folding is just the process that occurs when all the atoms bond and form a protein. The computers in the project are running simulations into how the atoms combine.
There are several very promising uses for this. First off, it is worth noting that not every protein in the Folding project has been a natural one. Several of the Folding simulations have been on synthetic molecules that are able to fold into useful structures like tubules. Nano-technologists take note.
Secondly, many diseases wreak their havoc by halting or disrupting the natural Folding process. If we figure out exactly how they disrupt this Folding process then we may find potential methods of combating them.
Now those both look good on a Doctoral thesis, but they have not been put to real world use as of yet. There is something that Folding is being used for that has very real results that will affect us all within the decade.
That is the Genome project.
Most genes contain blueprints for proteins. We don't know a damn thing about most of these proteins. The Genome project will churn out a molecule that we know nothing about. Folding tells us a great deal about the proteins by telling us how they form, in turn we may predict how they will interact with other proteins.
There is a reason that Genome@Home is part of Folding@Home.
Folding is just the process that occurs when all the atoms bond and form a protein. The computers in the project are running simulations into how the atoms combine.
There are several very promising uses for this. First off, it is worth noting that not every protein in the Folding project has been a natural one. Several of the Folding simulations have been on synthetic molecules that are able to fold into useful structures like tubules. Nano-technologists take note.
Secondly, many diseases wreak their havoc by halting or disrupting the natural Folding process. If we figure out exactly how they disrupt this Folding process then we may find potential methods of combating them.
Now those both look good on a Doctoral thesis, but they have not been put to real world use as of yet. There is something that Folding is being used for that has very real results that will affect us all within the decade.
That is the Genome project.
Most genes contain blueprints for proteins. We don't know a damn thing about most of these proteins. The Genome project will churn out a molecule that we know nothing about. Folding tells us a great deal about the proteins by telling us how they form, in turn we may predict how they will interact with other proteins.
There is a reason that Genome@Home is part of Folding@Home.
