Yes, for-profits like IBM and United Devices are helping, but the Proteome Folding project is not theirs. Nor do you see an pharmaceutical companies here. The ISB in a non-profit academic center. The lead scientists are top-notch. This data is being published and shared. Check out the papers at http://genomebiology.com/2004/5/8/R52 and http://www.genome.org/cgi/content/abstract/14/11/2 221 for examples. They used the Halobacterium NRC-1 as a practice run and discovered the function of a number of its unknown genes.
(For example, they uncovered over a dozen Htrs--halobacterial transducer proteins--part of the machinery halobacteria uses to sense its environment. These things are amazing extremophiles. They show how life can survive just about anywhere. They're what make the salt ponds at the south end of San Francisco Bay turn purple. NRC-1 came from the Dead Sea.)
My family's experience has been good--they've recieved their CDs rather quickly. You might want to encourage your local library to get a Freedom Toaster (http://www.freedomtoaster.org/ ). My mother-in-law was thrilled to see her small-town, South African library get one recently (http://charlvn.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_charlvn_ar chive.html ). It's a great help for getting installation CDs since few people there have high-speed internet yet.
Yes, for-profits like IBM and United Devices are helping, but the Proteome Folding project is not theirs. Nor do you see an pharmaceutical companies here. The ISB in a non-profit academic center. The lead scientists are top-notch. This data is being published and shared. Check out the papers at http://genomebiology.com/2004/5/8/R52 and http://www.genome.org/cgi/content/abstract/14/11/2 221 for examples. They used the Halobacterium NRC-1 as a practice run and discovered the function of a number of its unknown genes.
(For example, they uncovered over a dozen Htrs--halobacterial transducer proteins--part of the machinery halobacteria uses to sense its environment. These things are amazing extremophiles. They show how life can survive just about anywhere. They're what make the salt ponds at the south end of San Francisco Bay turn purple. NRC-1 came from the Dead Sea.)
My family's experience has been good--they've recieved their CDs rather quickly. You might want to encourage your local library to get a Freedom Toaster (http://www.freedomtoaster.org/ ). My mother-in-law was thrilled to see her small-town, South African library get one recently (http://charlvn.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_charlvn_ar chive.html ).
It's a great help for getting installation CDs since few people there have high-speed internet yet.