When COVID-19 forced students home, the university’s once-bustling computer labs fell silent, and more than 1,250 computers sat unused.
Now the computers are at work once again, helping researchers around the globe fight the very disease that displaced students across Rutgers locations.
Information technology professionals have connected the devices – and other machines from around the university – to a research consortium called Folding@Home, which will use them to predict the efficacy of potential COVID-19 treatments. Folding@Home pairs research labs that need extra computing power with people who want to put their machines to good use. Volunteers download an app that works in the background, automatically tapping unused resources for research.
Folding@Home normally supports research into many different diseases, but it has made news recently by turning its resources to the fight against the SARS CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Other participants and partners include Colorado State, Google, Intel and the University of Virginia.
“The machines in the labs aren’t particularly powerful individually, but collectively, they have a huge amount of computing power that can do valuable work,” said Brian Luper, a director in the Office of Information Technology (OIT) who learned about the Folding@Home COVID-19 efforts from a tech blog post. Luper, who oversees many of the university’s computer labs, realized that the computers in the labs, though just regular Macs and PCs, were “a huge, untapped resource that could help test treatments” for COVID-19.
And Luper isn’t alone. The Office of Advanced Research Computing (OARC) is donating compute cycles from their high-performance computing systems to Folding@Home, which is also getting contributions from at least a dozen others with university email addresses. “Team Rutgers” at Folding@Home was recently ranked in the top 1 percent of all Folding@Home contributors.
How can computers evaluate COVID-19 treatments?
Drugs affect your body by binding to molecules inside you and changing their behavior. To find an effective COVID-19 treatment, you need to find (or build) a molecule that binds either to the virus or to some molecule in your body that interacts with the virus.
Molecules, like puzzle pieces, only bind if their shapes correspond properly, so researchers must first discover the exact shapes of molecules they wish to “target” and then find a drug with inversely shaped structures.
Unlike puzzle pieces, many molecules are extremely complex. A single protein can contain more than 10,000 atoms, all arranged into an unfathomably ornate shape that, to make matters worse, is constantly changing. Drug molecules can be equally complex.
Predicting “fits” can take trillions of calculations, and that’s where the computer lab’s machines can help.
“We already know the primary shape of the protein we’re targeting, so we’re now screening drug-like molecules to see which fit best,” said Vincent Voelz, an associate professor of chemistry at Temple University who is one of the leaders of the Folding@Home project. “We assign one potential drug to each computer, so the addition of 1,000 computers gives us 1,000 more chances to find a promising treatment.”
OIT operates more than 25 computer labs across the university, with some of the labs housing scores of computers. It would have taken weeks to install the Folding@Home software computer-by-computer, but Luper knew there was a shortcut: The software that normally pushes updates to computer labs would enable OIT to complete the process in just a few hours.
Luper’s request to connect the computer lab machines to Folding@Home won immediate and enthusiastic support from OIT leadership.
“I’m thrilled we are able to contribute our computing resources to the hunt for a cure,” said Michele Norin, senior vice president and chief information officer.
The leader of OARC echoed Norin’s thoughts. “Rutgers researchers are playing an important role in the fight against COVID-19, and I’m glad that OARC can aid this research by prioritizing COVID-19 related work on our high-performance computing resources,” said Barr von Oehsen, the associate vice president of OARC.
OARC has contributed time from various high-performance computing systems, including full-time work from a specific research “cluster,” known as Perceval, that has roughly 500 times the computing power of a normal Mac or PC.
As with the computer labs, which were only available to fight the virus because the virus had sent their normal users home, OARC’s Perceval cluster became available for COVID-19 research because COVID-19 forced OARC to postpone planned changes to the system.
“The Perceval cluster was due to be repurposed, but we were able to immediately connect it to Folding@Home when the pandemic sent us home,” said Ryan Novosielski, who is a senior technologist at OARC. “We won’t be able to repurpose the system until the pandemic has subsided and it’s safe to work on site.”
Want to help test potential COVID-19 treatments? You don’t need hundreds of computers or a research cluster to help Folding@Home do valuable research. Each additional computer helps, and it’s easy to download the software and configure it so that it won’t slow your computer down when you need to use it. You can also learn more about the Folding@Home effort to combat COVID-19.
COVID-19 ilipowalazimisha wanafunzi kurudi nyumbani, maabara ya kompyuta ya chuo kikuu ilizimia, na zaidi ya kompyuta 1,250 zilisimama zisizotumiwa. Sasa kompyuta zinafanya kazi tena, zikisaidia watafiti duniani kote kupambana na ugonjwa huo ambao uliondosha wanafunzi katika maeneo ya Rutgers. Wataalamu wa teknolojia ya habari wameunganisha vifaa na mashine nyingine kutoka kote chuo kikuu kwa ushirika wa utafiti unaoitwa Folding@Home, ambao utatumia kutabiri ufanisi wa matibabu ya COVID-19. Folding@Home inashiriki maabara ya utafiti ambayo yanahitaji nguvu ya ziada ya kompyuta na watu ambao wanataka kutumia mashine zao vizuri. Wajitoleaji hupakua programu inayofanya kazi kwa nyuma, na kwa moja kwa moja hupata rasilimali zisizotumiwa kwa ajili ya utafiti. FoldingHome kwa kawaida inasaidia utafiti wa magonjwa mengi tofauti, lakini hivi karibuni imefanya habari kwa kugeuza rasilimali zake kupigana na virusi vya SARS-CoV-2 vinavyosababisha COVID-19. Washiriki wengine na washirika ni pamoja na Jimbo la Colorado, Google, Intel na Chuo Kikuu cha Virginia. "Mashine katika maabara si nguvu sana kwa mtu binafsi, lakini kwa pamoja, wana kiasi kikubwa cha nguvu ya kompyuta ambayo inaweza kufanya kazi muhimu, ""alisema Brian Luper, mkurugenzi katika Ofisi ya Teknolojia ya Habari (OIT) ambaye alijifunza juu ya Folding @ Home COVID-19 juhudi kutoka chapisho la blogi ya teknolojia." Luper, ambaye husimamia maabara nyingi za kompyuta za chuo kikuu, alitambua kwamba kompyuta katika maabara, ingawa ni Macs na PC za kawaida tu, zilikuwa " rasilimali kubwa, zisizotumiwa ambazo zinaweza kusaidia kupima matibabu " kwa COVID-19. Na Luper si peke yake. Ofisi ya Advanced Research Computing (OARC) inatoa mzunguko wa hesabu kutoka kwa mifumo yao ya kompyuta ya utendaji wa juu kwa Folding@Home, ambayo pia inapata michango kutoka kwa angalau wengine kadhaa na anwani za barua pepe za chuo kikuu. "Timu ya Rutgers" katika Folding@Home hivi karibuni iliorodheshwa katika asilimia 1 ya juu ya wachangiaji wote wa Folding@Home. Kompyuta zinawezaje kutathmini matibabu ya COVID-19? Dawa za kulevya huathiri mwili wako kwa kuunganisha na molekuli ndani yako na kubadilisha tabia zao. Ili kupata matibabu bora ya COVID-19, unahitaji kupata (au kujenga) molekuli ambayo huunganisha au kwa virusi au kwa molekuli fulani katika mwili wako ambayo inashirikiana na virusi. Molekuli, kama vipande vya puzzle, huunganisha tu ikiwa maumbo yao yanalingana vizuri, kwa hivyo watafiti lazima kwanza wagundue maumbo halisi ya molekuli wanayotaka "kuelekeza" na kisha wapate dawa yenye muundo wa kinyume. Tofauti na vipande vya fumbo, molekuli nyingi ni tata sana. Protini moja inaweza kuwa na atomu zaidi ya 10,000, zote zikiwa zimepangwa katika umbo lenye mapambo mengi sana, na jambo baya zaidi ni kwamba, zinabadilika daima. Molekuli za dawa za kulevya zaweza kuwa tata vilevile. Kutabiri "kufaa" kunaweza kuchukua trilioni za hesabu, na hapo ndipo mashine za maabara ya kompyuta zinaweza kusaidia. "Tunajua tayari umbo la msingi la protini tunayoilenga, kwa hivyo sasa tunachunguza molekuli zinazofanana na dawa ili kuona ni zipi zinafaa zaidi", alisema Vincent Voelz, profesa msaidizi wa kemia katika Chuo Kikuu cha Temple ambaye ni mmoja wa viongozi wa mradi wa Folding@Home. """ "Kila kompyuta ina dawa moja, hivyo kuongeza kompyuta 1,000 kutupa nafasi zaidi ya 1,000 ya kupata matibabu ya matumaini. ""OIT inafanya kazi zaidi ya maabara ya kompyuta 25 katika chuo kikuu, na baadhi ya maabara nyumba scores ya kompyuta." "Ilikuwa itachukua wiki kadhaa kuanzisha programu ya ""Folding Home"" kompyuta kwa kompyuta, lakini Luper alijua kulikuwa na njia ya mkato: programu ambayo kwa kawaida inasafirisha sasisho kwa maabara ya kompyuta ingewezesha OIT kukamilisha mchakato katika masaa machache tu." Ombi la Luper la kuunganisha mashine za maabara ya kompyuta kwa Folding@Home lilipata msaada wa haraka na wa shauku kutoka kwa uongozi wa OIT. "Ninafurahi sana kwamba tunaweza kuchangia rasilimali zetu za kompyuta katika kutafuta tiba", alisema Michele Norin, makamu mkuu wa rais na afisa mkuu wa habari. Kiongozi wa OARC alirudia mawazo ya Norin. "Watafiti wa Rutgers wana jukumu muhimu katika kupambana na COVID-19 na ninafurahi kwamba OARC inaweza kusaidia utafiti huu kwa kuweka kipaumbele kazi inayohusiana na COVID-19 kwenye rasilimali zetu za kompyuta za utendaji wa juu, ""alisema Barr von Oehsen, makamu mwenyekiti wa OARC." OARC imetoa wakati kutoka kwa mifumo mbalimbali ya kompyuta ya utendaji wa juu, ikiwa ni pamoja na kazi ya wakati wote kutoka kwa "kundi" maalum la utafiti, inayojulikana kama Perceval, ambayo ina karibu nguvu ya kompyuta ya kawaida ya Mac au PC. Kama ilivyo na maabara ya kompyuta, ambayo zilipatikana tu kupambana na virusi kwa sababu virusi vilikuwa vimewatuma watumiaji wao wa kawaida nyumbani, kundi la Perceval la OARC lilipatikana kwa utafiti wa COVID-19 kwa sababu COVID-19 ililazimisha OARC kuahirisha mabadiliko yaliyopangwa kwa mfumo. "Kundi la Perceval lilipaswa kubadilishwa, lakini tuliweza kuunganisha mara moja na Folding@Home wakati janga hilo lilitupeleka nyumbani, "Ryan Novoselsky, ambaye ni mtaalamu mwandamizi wa teknolojia katika OARC, alisema." "Hatutakuwa na uwezo wa kubadilisha kusudi la mfumo hadi janga hilo litakapopungua na ni salama kufanya kazi kwenye tovuti. ""Unataka kusaidia kupima matibabu ya COVID-19?" Huna haja ya mamia ya kompyuta au kundi la utafiti kusaidia Folding@Home kufanya utafiti wa thamani. Kila kompyuta ya ziada husaidia, na ni rahisi kupakua programu na kuipanga ili isiweze kupunguza kasi ya kompyuta yako wakati unahitaji kuitumia. "Kama unavyojua, kuna ""Folding Home"" ambayo ni mpango wa kupambana na COVID-19."