( University of Washington TechTransferr...)Researchers find how protein allows insects to detect and respond to pheromones

University of Washington TechTransfer recently licensed software that will give scientists a huge advantage in the fight against disease. The software, known as Rosetta, predicts how proteins fold, information that is highly valuable to biological and biomedical researchers. UW Tech Transfer's Digital Ventures licensed Rosetta software without charge to the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), a non-profit research organization. The institute has partnered with IBM and United Devices, an Austin-based company, to create the Human Proteome Folding Project, a global effort to determine the structures of the approximately 60 percent of human proteins with no known function.

"How proteins fold determines how they are structured," said Lars Malmstroem of the UW laboratory that developed the program, "And how they are structured is related to their function in the body." Because there is an astronomical number of possible conformations for a given protein, collecting the data would take many thousands of lifetimes to complete with conventional computers, said Dr. Richard Bonneau, one of the researchers. But by summoning the computing power of millions of volunteers around the world, he said, the task will be completed in less than a year. IBM's World Community Grid, which was built using grid technology developed by United Devices, will enable millions of people to volunteer their personal computers to run Rosetta during periods of computer downtime. The information will be entered into a publicly accessible database, which scientists can then use to conduct research into new drugs and treatments. Rosetta works by virtually folding protein sequences into thousands of possible shapes, based on certain protein folding "rules" known by scientists. These rules are summarized in the program and are termed the "Rosetta score." The program tries a great many conformations and returns those with the lowest Rosetta scores; these conformations come closest to the actual shape
'"/>

Source:University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Researchers discover way to make cells in the eye sensitive to light
2. Researchers Uncover Key Step In Manufacture of Memory Protein
3. Researchers reveal the infectious impact of salmon farms on wild salmon
4. Researchers identify target for cancer drugs
5. Researchers discover molecule that causes secondary stroke
6. Researchers find missing genes of ancient organism
7. Researchers trace evolution to relatively simple genetic changes
8. Researchers add new tool to tumor-treatment arsenal
9. UF Researchers Map Bacterial Proteins That Cause Tooth Loss
10. VCU Researchers Identify Networks Of Genes Responding To Alcohol In The Brain
11. Researchers develop rapid diagnostic tool for pathogen identification