FNTS, a leading global IT service and cloud provider, announced it has formed a technology partnership with Folding@home, a computing project committed to identifying new ways to treat diseases.
Folding@home was created in the Pande Lab at Stanford University in 2000 and now consists of teams from eleven universities around the world that research protein dynamics. The project was originally focused on protein folding, the way a protein folds in the cells that make up the body. Humans rely on proteins to keep them healthy, but when they misfold, there can be serious consequences to a person’s health. Folding@home is analyzing diseases that result from protein misfolding and utilizing computing strategies to fight them. The group also is discovering new ways protein dynamics contribute to human health and disease, as well as new opportunities for treatment.
“The Folding@home project is powered by calculations and simulations that run on millions of computers, using downloaded and installed free, safe and easy-to-use software,” Anton Thynell said. “The process requires the help of volunteers from all over the world who share their idle computing power that would otherwise be unused.”
Operating one of the most secure, technically advanced data centers in the United States, FNTS is providing Folding@home with high-performing operating systems and cloud services that will augment the computing resources of volunteers who have donated computing power. Folding@home will have access to increased bandwidth and storage, which will boost the organization’s capacity so results can be analyzed and delivered faster.
“Technology is increasingly being used in nontraditional ways, and we are looking forward to working with Folding@home to further health care research in the fight against diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s,” FNTS chief technology officer Ken Marr said. “FNTS is donating fully managed platforms to Folding@home so teams can concentrate on research, analysis and solutions instead of the technology behind their infrastructure.”
For more information on Folding@home, please visit https://foldingathome.org/.