A Penguin in the Orchard

Folding Proteins at Home

The BBC is reporting the first known success of distributed computing, the solution of a complex process known as protein “folding” which may play a role in Alzheimer’s Disease. More than 200,000 PC owners have offered up their machines during idle time to perform the complex calculations necessary to understand the problem. Like the Seti@Home project, Folding@Home uses screensaver software to perform the distribution and calculations.