Supported by the IT giant IBM, a project allows almost anyone to support research against Covid-19. Regardless of the medium used, everyone can share their computing power to help scientists conduct virtual experiments. And this support can significantly increase the chances of finding a cure for coronavirus.
Do you have a computer or smartphone and want to help research against Covid-19? This possibility is very real today thanks to OpenPandemics – Covid-19. It is a platform supported by the giant IBM and the Scripps Research Institute based in San Diego (United States). The goal? Help researchers conduct virtual experiments to determine which molecules can be used to develop a treatment for Covid-19.
This initiative is part of the World Community Grid project, launched in 2004. This project has already contributed to research on HIV and the Ebola virus. Since its creation, no less than 770,000 people and 450 organizations have already shared their computing power. As part of research against Covid-19, about 50,000 calculations have already been done.
You should know that an initiative such as OpenPandemics – Covid-19 allows scientists to save precious time . Indeed, they are unable to test each molecule in the laboratory, so they use computer simulations beforehand. However, testing a large number of molecules in this way – millions – requires enormous computing power.
And when researchers don't have a supercomputer – as is the case with the Scripps Research Institute – this kind of initiative is obviously welcome. By bringing together the capabilities of many machines, we then obtain significant computing power. In other words, we considerably increase the chances to find a useful molecule in the development of a treatment against Covid-19.
Anyone can support the project by simply creating an account on World Community Grid. On the other hand, it is important to know that this support is not trivial. Indeed, volunteers must absolutely leave their computer running or their smartphone all the time. In addition to energy consumption, there is also a question of a greater mobilization of the processor and potentially premature wear of the device.
