Billionaire computer scientist David Shaw is currently leading a private scientific research group that is attempting to develop a supercomputer that will be able to determine and map the structures of complex protein molecules. Named in honor of the historic microbiologist Anton Van Leeuwenhoek, this new supercomputer should be ready for operation by the end of the year.
The new supercomputer is distinguished from other molecular dynamics computing tools like I.B.M.’s BlueGene/L supercomputer and the Stanford Folding@home distributed computing project in that the machine is designed to simulate a very narrow set of problems on biological processes that take place over a millisecond or longer. Molecular simulations are now done as a series of tiny intervals that may be as short as a femtosecond, one billionth of one millionth of a second, and may last no longer than a microsecond, or one millionth of a second.A stronger understanding of protein molecule structures may help the scientific community develop more protein-specific medications.
via NYTimes.com
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