Radio Diary: The Folding@home Project Uses Computer Simulations To Collect COVID-19 Data

Outside of CDC recommendations, how else can we be proactive in curbing COVID-19? Well, you can become a citizen scientist with the Folding@home project. It’s a computing project that simulates the movements of proteins found in a variety of diseases — and it gets results.

Emma, is one of the volunteer “folders” that dedicates CPU power to the effort of imaging the proteins. The software runs in the background while you’re on Zoom meetings or gaming. With her help — along with millions of others — the Folding@home project has collectively created a super computer that is imaging key proteins found in COVID-19.

In this radio diary, we hear from Greg Bowman, associate professor at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and director of the Folding@home project, and Emma, one of the many volunteer “folders” collecting data on COVID-19 proteins.