Folding@home

Folding@home
Original author(s)Vijay Pande
Developer(s)Pande Laboratory, Sony, Nvidia, ATI Technologies, Joseph Coffland, Cauldron Development[1]
Initial releaseOctober 1, 2000; 24 years ago (2000-10-01)
Stable release
7.6.21 / October 23, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-10-23)[2]
Preview release
8.1.18 / April 18, 2023; 18 months ago (2023-04-18)[2]
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 3 (discontinued as of firmware version 4.30)
PlatformIA-32, x86-64, ARM64, CUDA[3]
Available inEnglish, French, Spanish, Swedish
TypeDistributed computing
LicenseProprietary software[4]
Websitefoldingathome.org

Folding@home (FAH or F@h) is a distributed computing project aimed to help scientists develop new therapeutics for a variety of diseases by the means of simulating protein dynamics. This includes the process of protein folding and the movements of proteins, and is reliant on simulations run on volunteers' personal computers.[5] Folding@home is currently based at the University of Pennsylvania and led by Greg Bowman, a former student of Vijay Pande.[6]

The project utilizes graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), and ARM processors like those on the Raspberry Pi for distributed computing and scientific research. The project uses statistical simulation methodology that is a paradigm shift from traditional computing methods.[7] As part of the client–server model network architecture, the volunteered machines each receive pieces of a simulation (work units), complete them, and return them to the project's database servers, where the units are compiled into an overall simulation. Volunteers can track their contributions on the Folding@home website, which makes volunteers' participation competitive and encourages long-term involvement.

Folding@home is one of the world's fastest computing systems. With heightened interest in the project as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,[8] the system achieved a speed of approximately 1.22 exaflops by late March 2020 and reached 2.43 exaflops by April 12, 2020,[9] making it the world's first exaflop computing system. This level of performance from its large-scale computing network has allowed researchers to run computationally costly atomic-level simulations of protein folding thousands of times longer than formerly achieved. Since its launch on October 1, 2000, Folding@home was involved in the production of 226 scientific research papers.[10] Results from the project's simulations agree well with experiments.[11][12][13]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference About Partners was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 7.6 windows releases was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Alternative Downloads".
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Open Source FAQ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Folding@home n.d.e: "Folding@home (FAH or F@h) is a distributed computing project for simulating protein dynamics, including the process of protein folding and the movements of proteins implicated in a variety of diseases. It brings together citizen scientists who volunteer to run simulations of protein dynamics on their personal computers. Insights from this data are helping scientists to better understand biology, and providing new opportunities for developing therapeutics."
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference FAH leadership change was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference 10.1016/j.ymeth.2010.06.002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ News 12 Long Island 2020: "Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Folding@home has seen a significant surge in downloads, a clear indication that people around the world are concerned about doing their part to help researchers find a remedy to this virus," said Dr. Sina Rabbany, dean of the DeMatteis School."
  9. ^ Pande lab. "Client Statistics by OS". Archive.is. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  10. ^ "Papers & Results". [email protected]. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference 10.1021/ja9090353 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference 10.1073/pnas.1003962107 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference 10.1038/nature01160 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).