Akıllı telefonlar ile AIDS araştırması yürütülmeye başlandı (İng)

Smartphones to be Used to Help Cure Disease

Posted by Victoria Knowles – Pharmaceutical International Reporter on 09/08/2013

Scientists rely on funds to carry out crucial research into finding treatments and cures for AIDS. Now, as well as contributing money, you can also donate your computing power.

A new app provides an opportunity for users of Android tablets and smartphones to donate their unused device power for scientific research. No need to worry about draining your battery or eating up your data plan, the scheme only works when your device is plugged in, near full-charge and connected to Wi-Fi – so you can help potentially save lives while you sleep.

This is not the first initiative that outsources computer power for a good cause, but now is the age where tablets and smartphones can be used, not just desktops and laptops. It may not seem much to donate power from only your pocket-sized device. However, combined with thousands of other “donated” handsets, you have yourself the power of a quasi-supercomputer which scientists can utilise to carry out their valuable research.

New App Allows Users to Donate Unused Smartphone Power

Boinc, an app released on July 22, allows users to choose who they wish to donate their processing power to. The project taking advantage of the super network is named FightAIDS@Home. Researchers working on the initiative are seeking new drug treatments for the HIV virus.

The Scripps Research Institute and the Olson Laboratory run the project, and IBM’s World Community Grid powers it. This is yet another scientific research scheme to add to the dozen or so which have been sponsored by the World Community Grid over the last ten years.

A similar app to Boinc, developed by New York University’s Polytechnic Institute and named Seattle, lets people be altruistic in the name of student research. At the moment, some 50 Android handsets are using Seattle, but when the iPad and iPhone compatible versions are released in August this is expected to increase, according to the man behind the project, Justin Cappos.

Donating computer power is essentially giving vital funds. For nonprofit research institutes, renting supercomputer time is a costly process, with figures reaching over $1,000 per hour. From a business perspective people are starting to cotton on to the idea that these smart devices could do much more than just sit in pockets – whether that is to cure aids, or to discover new stars.