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Yes this does count as a kind of advert.
You see this is an appeal for you to join www.find-a-drug.co.uk
You might have heard about SETI@home, you know the thing where a program runs in the background using your unused processing power to scan data from a satellite dish.
Well FAD is similar in operation, except that instead of looking for aliens it looks for molecules and proteins that can be targeted for further research and stuff in finding a cure for cancer.
I have been running distributed computing projects for several months now.
It doesn't require much effort, you download a small program and a work unit (WU). Then the program runs in the background just processing. When it finishes that WU it moves on to the next in the queue of 2 or 3 that you download every so often from the net. When it is finished it gets sent back to FAD.
The program doesn't cause slowdown, it only uses unused power, as whenever you do anything else like type a letter it lets you do that and then starts processing again. After all other than in video editing or really high powered games you only ever use an average of 10% or so of your computers capacity. So why don't you donate it to a good cause?
FAD has several ongoing projects. Currently these are cancer, multiple sclerosis, SARS and bio terrorism viruses. HIV has been run in the past and will likely restart later this year.
If you do decide to join, I have now create a Special Reserve team. The team number for entering on the setup screen is 2072. So come on join up. So far, as I only just set the team up, I am the only member. Out of 54 teams, Special Reserve is ranked 39.
One day our efforts could make a difference. Imagine the lives that could be saved. In Britain, 1 in 3 people get cancer.
For every ones benefit, please help save the world, help find a drug.
You see this is an appeal for you to join www.find-a-drug.co.uk
You might have heard about SETI@home, you know the thing where a program runs in the background using your unused processing power to scan data from a satellite dish.
Well FAD is similar in operation, except that instead of looking for aliens it looks for molecules and proteins that can be targeted for further research and stuff in finding a cure for cancer.
I have been running distributed computing projects for several months now.
It doesn't require much effort, you download a small program and a work unit (WU). Then the program runs in the background just processing. When it finishes that WU it moves on to the next in the queue of 2 or 3 that you download every so often from the net. When it is finished it gets sent back to FAD.
The program doesn't cause slowdown, it only uses unused power, as whenever you do anything else like type a letter it lets you do that and then starts processing again. After all other than in video editing or really high powered games you only ever use an average of 10% or so of your computers capacity. So why don't you donate it to a good cause?
FAD has several ongoing projects. Currently these are cancer, multiple sclerosis, SARS and bio terrorism viruses. HIV has been run in the past and will likely restart later this year.
If you do decide to join, I have now create a Special Reserve team. The team number for entering on the setup screen is 2072. So come on join up. So far, as I only just set the team up, I am the only member. Out of 54 teams, Special Reserve is ranked 39.
One day our efforts could make a difference. Imagine the lives that could be saved. In Britain, 1 in 3 people get cancer.
For every ones benefit, please help save the world, help find a drug.
Page:
The latest newsletter. So you all know whats happening.
Cancer Growth Inhibitors Found
At the end of June, Find-a-Drug was pleased to announce that the preliminary results of its Cancer Internet project had exceeded all expectations. As a result of the generous contributions of PC time by members, Find-a-Drug has been able to evaluate the potential of more than 0.5 billion molecules and produce a set of molecules that are predicted to inhibit the growth of various types of cancer cell. Scientists at the US National Cancer Institute have tested the abilities of a small number of molecules from the set as part of their Developmental Therapeutics Program.
"We had expected that only 2-3% of the molecules predicted to inhibit cancer cell growth would be observed to do so in the laboratory" commented Keith Davies, Scientific Director of Find-a-Drug. "In this study, 7 of the 39 molecules tested showed the desired anti-cancer properties".
These results relate to two proteins: RAS, which has been described by David Kerr, Professor of Oncology at of Oxford University as the "single access gate" for signalling cell development; and VEGFr which plays a key-role in the development of new blood vessels. Previous attempts to find RAS inhibitors have been less successful, but there are some VEGFr inhibitors in clinical trials. VEGFr is a very attractive protein to target because inhibiting the development of new blood vessels would be a valuable treatment for most solid tumours including breast, colon and renal cancers. VEGFr inhibitors may also be a viable alternative to chemotherapy following surgery with fewer side-effects.
Find-a-Drug hopes to test more molecules in the laboratory later this year before making any decisions about which molecules are worthy of further research. We expect that the percentage of tested molecules which show activity will fall below 10% when the results for other molecules and proteins are analysed. Alternative protein targets will also be evaluated to increase the number of molecules which are predicted to have anti-cancer properties. It is hoped that choosing from a larger number of molecules will help to avoid drug failures during clinical trials. Further information will be posted on the web-site.
HIV project
The long awaited start of the HIV project came earlier this month. The first target gp120 plays a key role enabling the entry of HIV into human cells, and a molecule which inhibits this process would be a novel drug. The site we are examining in gp120 is largely conserved across HIV-1 mutants, thereby reducing the scope for drug resistance!
The region of the world most affected by AIDS is sub-Saharan Africa. Over 23 million adults and children in the region are currently living with HIV/AIDS and more than 13 million have died, accounting for over 80% of the world's deaths due to AIDS. In Africa alone 10,000 people become infected each day, according to UNAIDS. For many of these individuals the prospects are bleak: the life-time costs of the current generation of drugs are economically crippling and the medical facilities are limited, with the consequence that most sufferers face a miserable life and early death. New mutations of HIV threaten the effectiveness of current antiretroviral drugs and are challenging scientists to find better drugs.
"I am excited by this approach to identify potential new drugs", comments Dr Ian Gilbert of the Welsh School of Pharmacy at Cardiff University, who is collaborating with Find-a-Drug. "The scale of this project might allow us to find a molecule which is effective against the human immunodeficiency virus which causes AIDS."
SARS
The Respiratory Disease project started in May, shortly after the previous newsletter was released. The first targets were related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and at the time of writing both are nearing completion. Subsequent targets may include Tuberculosis (TB) and Chronic Bronchitis which are responsible for the deaths of many people worldwide.
The 3-D structure of the SARS virus proteinase was determined by Professor Hilgenfeld at the University of Lübeck who has kindly made it available to Find-a-Drug. As part of the collaboration with Professor Hilgenfeld, the hits from this work will be made available to his group and they will attempt to confirm the binding to the protein site.
Certificates
Messages posted in our forum indicate that there are a variety of reasons why people participate in Distributed Computing projects. Knowing the suffering that a disease can cause is often a sufficient reason, but participation can be made more fun by joining teams. This is especially the case for more competitive members who keep track of their relative contributions.
We have recently added the capability to create and print certificates to acknowledge the contributions made by members as they pass certain milestones in terms of the numbers of molecules processed or points awarded. In addition, special certificates are issued when preliminary results indicate that a member has found a molecule which exhibits the desired biological activity. We are grateful for the assistance provided by Japonicus in drafting the original PHP script to create the certificates.
Cancer Growth Inhibitors Found
At the end of June, Find-a-Drug was pleased to announce that the preliminary results of its Cancer Internet project had exceeded all expectations. As a result of the generous contributions of PC time by members, Find-a-Drug has been able to evaluate the potential of more than 0.5 billion molecules and produce a set of molecules that are predicted to inhibit the growth of various types of cancer cell. Scientists at the US National Cancer Institute have tested the abilities of a small number of molecules from the set as part of their Developmental Therapeutics Program.
"We had expected that only 2-3% of the molecules predicted to inhibit cancer cell growth would be observed to do so in the laboratory" commented Keith Davies, Scientific Director of Find-a-Drug. "In this study, 7 of the 39 molecules tested showed the desired anti-cancer properties".
These results relate to two proteins: RAS, which has been described by David Kerr, Professor of Oncology at of Oxford University as the "single access gate" for signalling cell development; and VEGFr which plays a key-role in the development of new blood vessels. Previous attempts to find RAS inhibitors have been less successful, but there are some VEGFr inhibitors in clinical trials. VEGFr is a very attractive protein to target because inhibiting the development of new blood vessels would be a valuable treatment for most solid tumours including breast, colon and renal cancers. VEGFr inhibitors may also be a viable alternative to chemotherapy following surgery with fewer side-effects.
Find-a-Drug hopes to test more molecules in the laboratory later this year before making any decisions about which molecules are worthy of further research. We expect that the percentage of tested molecules which show activity will fall below 10% when the results for other molecules and proteins are analysed. Alternative protein targets will also be evaluated to increase the number of molecules which are predicted to have anti-cancer properties. It is hoped that choosing from a larger number of molecules will help to avoid drug failures during clinical trials. Further information will be posted on the web-site.
HIV project
The long awaited start of the HIV project came earlier this month. The first target gp120 plays a key role enabling the entry of HIV into human cells, and a molecule which inhibits this process would be a novel drug. The site we are examining in gp120 is largely conserved across HIV-1 mutants, thereby reducing the scope for drug resistance!
The region of the world most affected by AIDS is sub-Saharan Africa. Over 23 million adults and children in the region are currently living with HIV/AIDS and more than 13 million have died, accounting for over 80% of the world's deaths due to AIDS. In Africa alone 10,000 people become infected each day, according to UNAIDS. For many of these individuals the prospects are bleak: the life-time costs of the current generation of drugs are economically crippling and the medical facilities are limited, with the consequence that most sufferers face a miserable life and early death. New mutations of HIV threaten the effectiveness of current antiretroviral drugs and are challenging scientists to find better drugs.
"I am excited by this approach to identify potential new drugs", comments Dr Ian Gilbert of the Welsh School of Pharmacy at Cardiff University, who is collaborating with Find-a-Drug. "The scale of this project might allow us to find a molecule which is effective against the human immunodeficiency virus which causes AIDS."
SARS
The Respiratory Disease project started in May, shortly after the previous newsletter was released. The first targets were related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and at the time of writing both are nearing completion. Subsequent targets may include Tuberculosis (TB) and Chronic Bronchitis which are responsible for the deaths of many people worldwide.
The 3-D structure of the SARS virus proteinase was determined by Professor Hilgenfeld at the University of Lübeck who has kindly made it available to Find-a-Drug. As part of the collaboration with Professor Hilgenfeld, the hits from this work will be made available to his group and they will attempt to confirm the binding to the protein site.
Certificates
Messages posted in our forum indicate that there are a variety of reasons why people participate in Distributed Computing projects. Knowing the suffering that a disease can cause is often a sufficient reason, but participation can be made more fun by joining teams. This is especially the case for more competitive members who keep track of their relative contributions.
We have recently added the capability to create and print certificates to acknowledge the contributions made by members as they pass certain milestones in terms of the numbers of molecules processed or points awarded. In addition, special certificates are issued when preliminary results indicate that a member has found a molecule which exhibits the desired biological activity. We are grateful for the assistance provided by Japonicus in drafting the original PHP script to create the certificates.
POP. Because I think you lot should help out a bit more.
Find a Drug has now restarted the HIV project with new protein targets.
In other words we now get to try and save sub Saharan Africa.
In other words we now get to try and save sub Saharan Africa.
Glad to see you so excited. Like me with coffee.
Cool!! This is definetly definately cool!! Work that processor!!!
POP for tig.
Hedfix wrote:
> Hedfix wrote:
> How do we check how the team is doing?
>
> I still want to know. Is it on the site somewhere?
Yes. You got to the website and from the frame on the left click statistics. There you can view member stats or team stats. Click on teams and a list comes up showing all the team stats. If you actually click on the team name it will give you info on each member of it.
So far I am the only one, as you need to finish a WU and send it back then the stats need to be updated (they are updated every 6 hours at 00:00, 06:00, 12:00 and 18:00). To save needing to connect to the net so frequently several WUs are downloaded at a time. However to see your name in lights quicker, with out waiting on all currently downloaded WUs finishing you can upload straight away.
> Hedfix wrote:
> How do we check how the team is doing?
>
> I still want to know. Is it on the site somewhere?
Yes. You got to the website and from the frame on the left click statistics. There you can view member stats or team stats. Click on teams and a list comes up showing all the team stats. If you actually click on the team name it will give you info on each member of it.
So far I am the only one, as you need to finish a WU and send it back then the stats need to be updated (they are updated every 6 hours at 00:00, 06:00, 12:00 and 18:00). To save needing to connect to the net so frequently several WUs are downloaded at a time. However to see your name in lights quicker, with out waiting on all currently downloaded WUs finishing you can upload straight away.
Hedfix wrote:
> How do we check how the team is doing?
I still want to know. Is it on the site somewhere?
> How do we check how the team is doing?
I still want to know. Is it on the site somewhere?
Notorious Biggles wrote:
> I do find SETI interesting, but aliens never killed my grandmother, or
> is responsible for a friend being in hospital. Besides SETI will never
> succeed, most of the data they scan is 1000's of years old.
>
> And overpopulation on earth is not an issue, only in cities. The earth
> could have everone living comfortably with their own acre or whatever
> in an area the size of Texas.
yeah, cancer has killed several people I knew, and don't think for a minute that I don't take it seriously. But I always wonder what would happen if we eradicated all disease. Some people in tokyo already sleep in tiny little cupboard-like lying spaces. What happens in several hundred years when the population doubles (or certainly increases to a point where all resources are in short supply).
Death is my nemesis, as I'm sure it is for most people, I can think of nothing more terrifying. But I think there are worst things than death.
As for the SETI thing, that was just a bit of fun. I am an avid viewer of all things to do with space, and realise the chances of us communicating with ET are slim to none, but I just like to think that if it does happen, I've done my (VERY) small part.
> I do find SETI interesting, but aliens never killed my grandmother, or
> is responsible for a friend being in hospital. Besides SETI will never
> succeed, most of the data they scan is 1000's of years old.
>
> And overpopulation on earth is not an issue, only in cities. The earth
> could have everone living comfortably with their own acre or whatever
> in an area the size of Texas.
yeah, cancer has killed several people I knew, and don't think for a minute that I don't take it seriously. But I always wonder what would happen if we eradicated all disease. Some people in tokyo already sleep in tiny little cupboard-like lying spaces. What happens in several hundred years when the population doubles (or certainly increases to a point where all resources are in short supply).
Death is my nemesis, as I'm sure it is for most people, I can think of nothing more terrifying. But I think there are worst things than death.
As for the SETI thing, that was just a bit of fun. I am an avid viewer of all things to do with space, and realise the chances of us communicating with ET are slim to none, but I just like to think that if it does happen, I've done my (VERY) small part.
Borat Sagdiyev wrote:
> without getting to controversial, I find the search for ET more
> interesting than the cure for cancer. irony will dictate that I will
> now contract a particularly vicious form of cancer, but I stand by my
> arguement.
>
> It brings me onto an interesting subject - the fact that
> overpopulation could ironically be the biggest problem the human race
> will face.
>
> anyway, I already have seti@home as my screensaver. with any luck
> we'll have predators, aliens and things bearing down on planet earth
> very soon
I do find SETI interesting, but aliens never killed my grandmother, or is responsible for a friend being in hospital. Besides SETI will never succeed, most of the data they scan is 1000's of years old.
And overpopulation on earth is not an issue, only in cities. The earth could have everone living comfortably with their own acre or whatever in an area the size of Texas.
> without getting to controversial, I find the search for ET more
> interesting than the cure for cancer. irony will dictate that I will
> now contract a particularly vicious form of cancer, but I stand by my
> arguement.
>
> It brings me onto an interesting subject - the fact that
> overpopulation could ironically be the biggest problem the human race
> will face.
>
> anyway, I already have seti@home as my screensaver. with any luck
> we'll have predators, aliens and things bearing down on planet earth
> very soon
I do find SETI interesting, but aliens never killed my grandmother, or is responsible for a friend being in hospital. Besides SETI will never succeed, most of the data they scan is 1000's of years old.
And overpopulation on earth is not an issue, only in cities. The earth could have everone living comfortably with their own acre or whatever in an area the size of Texas.
Page: