Distributed Computing Attacking SARS

fwc writes "D2OL has added a SARS Target to it's distributed computing project which locates potential drug candidates for several viruses. At this point, I've replaced SETI@Home at least temporarily on all of my Boxen. There are clients available for Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, and of course Windows."

Comments

Don't all move to this!

[ChaosMagic]

If everyone stops doing SETI@home and moves to battling the SARS problem then we may miss a vital signal from outer space from an alien race that has a cure to SARS and all the other nasties roaming this planet!

Re:Don't all move to this!

[Anonymous Coward]

Except that seti@home does not analyse signals in real time, they've got a huge evergrowing database of signals recieved and we're analyzing that... we aren't going to miss a signal, we're just going to find it few hours later.

AFAIK.

Re:Don't all move to this!

[aarondyck]

Actually, the way SETI works allows for any workload over an extended period of time. The samples that your computer is analysing have been around for quite some time; they are transmitted from regions that are light years away! In addition, it is only once every year or so that they have a real chance to look for anything interesting that they find. As far as a cure for SARS goes, I have an elderly grandmother who was rushed to the hospital for unrelated reasons shortly after the start of the SARS scare in Ontario. She was taken into an ambulance by men and women wearing full environmental suits. She has since been released, quite possibly too early (they still don't know what was wrong with her), so I'm anxious for the world to just deal with SARS. This is a prime example of the Fear Consumption Model brought to us by Marilyn Manson and Michael Moore. The more we fear, the more we consume. As a whole our society has seen millions of dollars spent on research on a disease that has only killed 295 people out of over six billion. When diseases were feared in the past it was worth fearing them: Justinian's Plague (541-544AD) killed 40% of the population of Constantinople; In the 14th Century we saw as many as 800 people a day dying of the Bubonic Plague -- 30% of Normandy's population was decimated. By comparison, SARS has managed to destroy less than 0.0000005% of the world's population, infecting a mere 0.000077% of the population.

Re:Don't all move to this!

[Anonymous Coward]

Nowadays we have modern concepts of hygiene,

You're talking to a crowd fascinated with moist towelettes here...

Who owns the results?

[The Original Yama]

Who owns the results once they've been calculated? Who gets paid royalties when a drug is developed from this data? I'm not going to donate my CPU time if SARS sufferers have to pay royalties (either directly or indirectly) to GlaxoSmithcline or the US Government (which IMHO isn't any better than a multinational corporation) for their medication.

Unless the results are released into the public domain or at least licensed under a BSD- or GPL-style license, I'm not touching it.

Re:Who owns the results?

[scalis]

Unless the results are released into the public domain or at least licensed under a BSD- or GPL-style license, I'm not touching it.

Id love to download a client that support your open-results based medical lab developing a cure for SARS.
Sine you dont have one and there is no one else to be found I see this as the second best thing.
In my book, developing a cure that will make someone else money is better than developing no cure at all.
Please provide a link and I will switch in a clockcycle.

Ain't there yet

[ericwb]

Unfortunately, finding a target binding site for a potential drug is years away from actually having a useful cure...

Computational Modeling

[gt384u]

How do all of you out there feel about contributing your computing cycles to the private sector? Previous iterations of this idea have been through nonprofit/university research institutions, but this new post seems to be private enterprise driven. As noble the goal D2OL is working towards is, i still feel odd about the whole idea. I pose the following question to the general Slashdot community: How do you feel about your computing cycles being used for the research and development of pharmaceuticals (or any other imaginable private sector application) and said company reaping tremendous profits from this show of goodwill?

Will be the drug free??

[miceliux]

If they find the correct drug against SARS, will it be free? or will it be patented and only the rich countries will use it??

SARS: DIY

[Anonymous Coward]

Download the SARS genetic sequence here.

Re:SARS: DIY

[middle]

does norton detect it?

I think this shows a need of....

[wastaz]

This slashdotting of such a site shows the need of a new distributed computing project. I wish to propose that we all sit down and share our cpu cycles to prevent slashdotting. How about we call the project "SARS: Some people Are likely to Risk Slashdotting this project" (Ok, I know that was a lame attempt at a name, but try coming up with a better one instead of complaining :P )

It would in essence work the way that we'd all put aside ~200k disk space and ~5k bandwidth for storing the most recently posted websites and files on our computers, then people could put together impromptu mirrors from this distributed project and behold! No more slashdottings of sites, articles and programs that one actually wants to read or download!

So, who's with me on this trek into the land where no slashdotter has ever ventured before?
Anyone?

Story link is laggy

[Anonymous Coward]

With the `slashdotting` in full effect I thought I should repost the content here.

Scientists at CDC and other laboratories have detected a previously unrecognized coronavirus in patients with SARS. While the new coronavirus is still the leading hypothesis for the cause of SARS, other viruses are still under investigation as potential causes.

Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that have a halo or crown-like (corona) appearance when viewed under a microscope. These viruses are a common cause of mild to moderate upper-respiratory illness in humans and are associated with respiratory, gastrointestinal, liver and neurologic disease in animals. Coronaviruses can survive in the environment for as long as three hours.

SARS is a respiratory illness that has recently been reported in Asia, North America, and Europe. The illness usually begins with a fever (measured temperature greater than 100.4F [>38.0C]). The fever is sometimes associated with chills or other symptoms, including headache, general feeling of discomfort, and body aches. Some people also experience mild respiratory symptoms at the outset.

After 2 to 7 days, SARS patients may develop a dry, nonproductive cough that might be accompanied by or progress to the point where insufficient oxygen is getting to the blood. In 10% to 20% of cases, patients will require mechanical ventilation.

The principal way SARS appears to be spread is through droplet transmission; namely, when someone sick with SARS coughs or sneezes droplets into the air and someone else breathes them in. It is possible that SARS can be transmitted more broadly through the air or from objects that have become contaminated.

TARGET - SARS Target 1

The new virus diverges by 50-60% from the three known groups of coronavirus. Because of the variation between coronovirus, scientists working with D2OL have selected a coronavirus protein target that has high conservation between human and animal strains. Three dimensional structure is actually more resistant to change than primary "sequence", and hence "SARS Target 1" is expected to have the same functionality and active site across all strains, and potentially allow for selection of compounds with broad activity against all coronovirus strains.

Several treatment regimens have been used for patients with SARS, but there is insufficient information at this time to determine if they have had a beneficial effect.

D2OL's target is also believed to be critical in the life cycle of the Coronovirus and drugs selected against it our expected to be viralcydal.

With your help we are testing compounds that are readily available, and credible "hits" can be tested in cell and animal models of the disease to confirm potential utility in man.

This is an easy decision for me

[The Tyro]

I work in Emergency Services, and have already had to deal with TWO suspected cases of SARS. Speaking as a physician, I'll donate my computing cycles, absolutely. The sooner a treatment is brought out, the better.

Here's how I feel about it: I hate having someone come into my ER when I have nothing to offer them. I feel a powerful ethical and professional obligation to take care of people, and do whatever I can for them. I do my best for each and every single patient I see, even if it's somebody who has been through maximal surgery/chemo for their cancer, and has literally reached the end of what medical science can do for them. For such folks, sometimes all I can do is hold their hand and offer a little reassurance, but at least it's SOMETHING. I hate having someone die right in front of me, and being powerless to prevent it. Call it a God complex if you want... I call it wanting to be able to help people. Having people die, and having nothing to say and no way to say it... well, that bothers me, call me crazy.

I don't particularly mind not having a cure for the common cold... a cold is an annoyance, nothing more. I very much DISLIKE not having a treatment for a lethal condition.

I personally don't care who develops the cure... Pharmcos are often painted as evil opportunists that prey on the illnesses of others... I disagree. I like Pharmcos, because they keep my arsenal full, which makes me MUCH more effective at my job. I don't accept Hawaii trips from them, but I'll accept lunch and a couple of pens if they're going to give me some clinically useful information (and hell, I have to write with something). I resent the AMA (I am NOT a member, BTW, for this reason and others) preaching to me about the "unethical behavior" of having dealings with drug reps. Do they really think I'm going to sell out my ethics, my oaths, and my patients because somebody took me to dinner?? I'm sorry, but that's a fucking insult.

I prescribe what I want, within the standard of care, regardless of what drug reps say. I always use cheap if I can, expensive if cheap won't work... but I like the fact that Pharmcos give me tools to take better care of patients.

The sooner a cure for SARS shows up, the happier I'll be.