Computer users
urged to aid quest for anti-HIV drugs

Personal computer users around the world are being asked to participate in a program that will use their computers to help search for promising new treatments for HIV, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The FightAIDS@Home project, backed by the Scripps Research Institute and IBM, links participating computers to a grid that can harness the individual computing power of each machine while it is idling.

Grid technology breaks down massive computing tasks into smaller pieces that individual computers can handle, such as analyzing the effects of several chemical compounds against various HIV proteins, Arthur Olsen, a molecular biology professor with Scripps, told the Journal-Constitution. With thousands or even millions of computers participating in the grid, countless possible anti-HIV agents can be analyzed and the best ones identified for further research and development.

"There are 650 million PCs in the world, and the more people who get involved, the more power we can devote to fighting AIDS and other significant diseases," says Stan Litow, president of IBM International Foundation.

Currently the FightAIDS@Home project is open to IBM and Linux computer users. Anyone interested in participating in the project will have to download and install free software to connect to the grid. For more information or to obtain the software to participate in the research project, go online to www.worldcommunitygrid.org. (Advocate.com)