The Folding@Home Project: Why do they do it?

“We have an obligation to help each other out.”

There is a quiet cause ticking away on nearly 100,000 computers worldwide.
People are giving up a little of their computer time to unravel another of life’s
mysteries. They work as individuals and they have grouped together to form teams.
They cobble together pc parts to build new computers dedicated to the task.
They even mark the passing of a friend with their accomplishments.

Everywhere across the planet everyday people are contributing to the study
of how proteins fold, misfold, aggregation and related diseases. Proteins are
remarkable biological machines that assemble themselves or, in other words,
fold. The protein is critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology and
when a protein does not fold correctly (i.e. “misfold”) there can
be serious effects including well known diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
disease.

On October 1, 2000 Standford University lead by Assistant Professor Vijay
S. Pande introduced the Folding@Home Distributed Computing software; a tiny
program that runs as a screen saver or as an dedicated task. A Distributed Computing
project is the practice of breaking down a task and sharing the workload across
many computers so that the cumulative effect can be problem solving on the super
computer scale. SETI@HOME
was the most widely known application of distributed computing.

Like SETI@Home the Folding@Home project was picked up by computer enthusiasts
who originally used the program as a tool to test their computer’s stability
but somewhere along the line that changed. A visit to Stanford’s Folding@Home
website
reveals a collection of teams competing against each other for the top position.
The software allows the user to represent themselves as an individual or as
a part of a team of individuals who “fold” proteins accumulating points
in the process. The Folding@Home project has evolved into a community and woven
into the cause is a fascinating collection of stories behind the processors.

One such collection of individuals form TeamShort-Media and are currently ranked
6th. worldwide in the team standings for folding proteins. Why do they do it?
The reasons are many but there is a common thread of competition, comradery,
a sense of belonging and pride in donating time to a humanitarian cause.

“I read that Alzheimer’s could possibly be caused by misfolded proteins
and my grandmother had it and it was a very sad thing to see such a bright person
deteriorate over time like that, hopefully some of this data can be used to
help work towards preventing or correcting diseases and disorders like that
and others.” says one member of TeamIcrontic. The sentiment is echoed
by another teammate, “I do it because I hope to one day hear of some
breakthrough achieved through the folding effort. Whether it be something extremely
small or something incredibly huge, it will have been worth it.”

These people are computer hobbyists and enthusiasts of all ages and walks of
life who modify and fine tune their “machines” with the same dedication,
precision and effort akin to race car drivers. “It’s fun and makes
me feel like there is a point to having spent all the dough on this machine.”
says a member and another adds “because i’m a competitive person, and
it is also for a good cause.”

“I love the stats, the Team comradery and everything that goes with
that effort, it’s easy, fun and your computer is the one that sweats.”
a members say explaining the process of Folding@Home and “because it
helps and I realise the fact that my computer is idle and wasted so much of
the time.”

One individual proudly states “chicks dig guys who fold!”

The dedication goes beyond letting their personal computers work at the Folding@Home
project. TeamIcrontic is currently assembling a collection of donated computer
parts to build their 14th. PC which is given, free of charge, to a volunteer
who’s only requirement is to give it a home, plug it in, pay for the electricity
to run it, maintain it and let it “think” 24/7 about the Folding@Home
project. Their project, ICx, stands for the computer enthusiast website Short-Media
and Short-Media Forums
which they are members of. The “x” becomes a number designating the
number in which it was built. Already TeamIcrontic is planning IC15 and IC16.

One of the team leaders and organizers boasts “recently all the ‘frankenstein’
machines have added up to produce 15,000 points. And its only going to continue
to grow exponentially as time goes on.”

IC13 holds a special significance as that particular PC was assembled and named
to honor the memory of a team member who passed away early in January 2003.
It was a moving experience to watch hundreds of TeamIcrontic Folding@Home members
switch their computer names to the honor their deceased teammate. Though they
may have never met their teammate in person or even spoken with him on the phone
it was their way of holding a candlelight vigil to mark the passing of a friend.
IC13 still carries the departed’s name as a way of remembering.

The idea of sharing computer time around the planet has grown into something
much more. The Folding@Home project has become a community and a cause binding
people together who may have never met except as exchanged messages in the forums
of enthusiast sites such as Icrontic. Each team and indvidual has their stories
of why they fold and this is only a small slice.

In such places as student dorms, offices, and bedrooms computers quietly fold
to change the world and in return those people, the folders, are contributing
a small part to something much larger. Perhaps a cure for a disease that could
affect any of us.

Almost every computer enthusiast site has their own team. Join in or download
the Folding@Home software and contribute as an individual.