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 worlds 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 users computer while the computer is idle and when connected to an internet connection, the users 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.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
the only downside I see is that Al Gore will take credit for this if it is successful
I didn't even know computers had pancreases.
Drat, you beat me to it.
"Computers fight pancreatic cancer"
I hope the computers win. Way too many
tears have been shed because of this disease.
You mean to tell me that you've never checked your computer's lipase and amylase levels?
Yes, it took my Dad.
Hell of a disease.
So you have done this? What type of connection do you ned for the peer to peer network (is high speed required)? I am interested.
I hear once a person has pancreatic cancer or cancer that spreads to the pancrease, then thats pretty much it, barring a miracle. I have friends who have (and had) it.
Does it seem like there is more cancer in the news, or is it just me?
dial up or high speed. The downloads are not large files. It is an easy setup. You can configure systems to run it "full time," as a screen saver or set a schedule. At work we have some systems run from 5pm-7am weekdays and full time on weekends. On some systems we run it full time because the systems aren't adversely affected (since they are mainly used for word processing)You can tailor a schedule for any times you desire. .
My nephew survived cancer. I lost my dad to cancer, so the little I can do to help is rewarding. From other articles I read, there are many good results expected from this project.
Bump.
My Dad went to NIH in Maryland in an effort to have the cancer surgically removed, but when they opened him up they found two small spots on his liver that hadn't shown up on the C.T. scan, they later tested positive for PC and so he was disqualified for any further surgical treatments. He then participated in a Stage-II chemotherapy trial from 12/2003 until 6/2004 when his C.T. scan showed that the PC was spreading again. He died 5 weeks later at home.
I first learned about United Devices through a Reader's Digest article. UD is a fantastic program that runs in the background and takes up very little memory. I've had it for three years now.
I have cable modem that is tweaked so I get very fast speeds, according to dslreports. I have about 10GB drive space available to offer, the drive is 7400rpm scsi and about 384 MB ram. Think it would help? I may contact them.
BTTT. Thanks for posting this.
Since late 2003, two people I know - an old friend from work, and my electrician - have died from this disease.
I was shocked by how quickly they died.
Hey, I use that! It runs on two of my PCs while they're idle.
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