GIVING SPARE COMPUTE POWER IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DISEASES

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought most of the world to a standstill as countries closed borders and enforced strict quarantine measures in order to stop the spread of the virus. Much as it is a downer, the pandemic has also brought different individuals together for a unified front in fighting the virus.

- Gabriel Pe

Many organizations and private individuals have stepped up and provided the necessary equipment and funding to aid front liners and other causes during the pandemic. While many would like to join the cause, some just don’t have the necessary resources needed to help. Luckily there are many other solutions if you really want to help in the fight against diseases. One way is just by turning on your computer, any computer, to help researchers find a cure for the pandemic through using the Folding@home (pronounced as Folding at home) program.

FOLDING@HOME

Folding@home (F@h) is a distributed computing project for simulating protein dynamics. These include the process of protein folding—hence the name—and the movement of proteins tied in with various diseases. The project has been around for almost two decades now and has been at the forefront in tackling some of the most complex diseases that have plagued us, such as Ebola and Alzheimer’s.