Sony has just announced the availability of firmware release 1.60 which allows users of their PlayStation3 game console to download and use Stanford University’s Folding@home program.
The stated goal of Folding@Home is to understand protein folding, misfolding and related diseases such as BSE, CJD, ALS, many cancers & Alzheimer’s = some added justification for buying a PS3.
You can start your own folding team at this link, and compete against the number 1 team [H]ardOCP, who has folded more than 4200000 workunits to date. A pharmaceutical company Amicus Therapeutics seems to be one of the few working on treatments for diseases associated with misfolded proteins.
Interesting to watch the PDB 1ten protein folding…looks like there might be many opportunities for things to go wrong.
http://folding.stanford.edu/FAQ-PS3.html - FAH FAQ, March 25 2007
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I thought this sounded great until I got to the last sentence, which was ominous to say the least.
I’ve never heard of a DIY scientific research project like this one before. A new paradigm for research, perhaps?