Innovation New Jersey
  • Home
  • Our Coalition
    • Contact Us
  • News
  • Resources
    • State Supports
    • Federal Supports
    • Higher Ed Supports
  • Join Us

Innovation News

Everything Innovation. Everything New Jersey.
Follow us and stay connected.

Rutgers Researchers Using Power of Web to Help Stop Zika Virus

5/20/2016

0 Comments

 
Newark, NJ ― Lindy Washburn reported in The Record that a global project led by researchers at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark is using a crowd-sourced supercomputer network to test potential cures for the Zika virus, the infection expected to spread into the southern United States this summer.
 
You can help: Just download an app to allow the IBM-sponsored “world community grid” to use your computer when it’s idle.
 
The massive supercomputer, created by donations of such excess capacity by hundreds of thousands of computer users, will enable speedy screening of millions of potential compounds to identify promising drug candidates for testing in the laboratory.
 
It’s already been harnessed to winnow potential new treatments for malaria, HIV/AIDS and Ebola.
​“We’re trying to make finding drugs more efficient, in terms of time and money,” said Joel Freundlich, who heads a chemical biology laboratory at the medical school and is a key consultant on the project.
 
“Instead of having to wait a number of years, even decades potentially, to test all these compounds in order to find a few that could form the basis of antiviral drugs to treat Zika, we will perform these initial tests in a matter of months,” said Alex Perryman, a member of Freundlich’s lab group and a co-leader of the research.  
 
Perryman pioneered the use of supercomputers in the quest for drugs against AIDS and malaria.
 
Perryman’s method uses a computer model of the virus, detailed to the level of individual atoms, to test how various compounds fit in or interact with it.  In contrast, a pharmaceutical lab typically tests thousands of compounds against a pathogen by actually applying the test material to a tiny amount of the virus or bacteria in a culture.
 
Picture the Zika virus as covered by a number of different locks.  The compounds to be tested are like keys.
 
A key that fits in a lock can jam the virus’ ability to reproduce or to sicken its host, and thus be a potential candidate for further study.
 
 The project also will use atomic models of related viruses, such as dengue fever and West Nile, in addition to Zika, to test for possible broad-spectrum treatments for the family of related diseases.
 
To read Washburn’s full story, click here.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Do not miss a single innovative moment and sign up for our newsletter!
    Weekly updates


    Categories

    All
    3D Printing
    Academia
    Acquisitions
    Aerospace
    Agriculture
    AIDS
    Algae
    Alumni
    Animals
    Architecture
    Astrophysics
    Autism
    Awards
    Big Data
    Bioethics
    Biofuel
    Biomedical
    BioNJ
    Bioterrorism
    Bit Coins
    Brain Health
    Business
    Camden
    Cancer
    CCollege
    Cellular
    Centenary
    Chemistry
    ChooseNJ
    Climate Change
    Clinical Trials
    Cloud Tech
    Collaboration
    Computing
    Congress
    Coriell
    Council On Innovation
    Crowdfunding
    Cybersecurity
    DARPA
    Defense
    Degree
    Dementia
    Dental Health
    DOC
    DOD
    DOE
    Drew
    Drones
    Drug Creation
    Einstein's Alley
    Electricity
    Energy
    Engineering
    Entrepreneurship
    Environmental
    FAA
    Fairleigh Dickinson
    FDA
    Federal Budget
    Federal Government
    Federal Labs
    Federal Program
    Finance
    Food Science
    Fort Monmouth
    Fuel Cells
    Funding
    Genome
    Geography
    Geology
    Global Competition
    Google
    Governor Christie
    Grant
    Hackensack
    HackensackUMC
    Healthcare
    Health Care
    HHS
    HINJ
    Hospitals
    Immigration
    Incubator
    Infrastructure
    International
    Internet
    Investor
    IoT
    IP
    IT
    Jobs
    Johnson & Johnson
    K-12
    Kean
    Kessler
    Legislation
    Logistics
    Manufacturing
    Medical Devices
    Med School
    Mental Health
    Mentor
    Microorganisms
    Molecular Biology
    Montclair
    NAS
    Neuroscience
    Newark
    New Jersey
    NIFA
    NIH
    NIST
    NJBDA
    NJBIA
    NJ Chemistry Council
    NJCU
    NJDOLWD
    NJEDA
    NJEDge
    NJHF
    NJII
    NJIT
    NJMEP
    NJPAC
    NJPRO
    NJTC
    Nonprofit
    NSF
    OpEd
    Open Data
    OSHE
    OSTP
    Parasite
    Patents
    Paterson
    Patients
    Perth Amboy
    Pharma
    POTUS
    PPPL
    Princeton
    Prosthetics
    Ranking
    Rare Disease
    R&D Council
    Report
    Resiliency
    Rider
    Robotics
    Rowan
    Rutgers
    SBA
    Seton Hall
    Siemens
    Smart Car
    Smart Cities
    Software
    Solar
    Space
    SSTI
    Startup
    State Government
    STEM
    Stevens
    Stockton
    Subatomic
    Supports
    Sustainability
    Taxes
    TCNJ
    Teachers
    Telecom
    Therapy
    Thermodynamics
    Transportation
    Undergraduate
    USEDA
    Verizon
    Video Game
    Virtual Reality
    Water
    WHO
    William Paterson
    Women In STEM
    Workforce Development

Home   Coalition   News   Resources   Events   Join Us
Picture
Innovation New Jersey Coalition
222 West State Street
Suite 302
Trenton, NJ 08608
732-729-9619