This level of performance will make Blue Gene 1,000 times more powerful than the Deep Blue machine that beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997, and about 2 million times more powerful than today's top desktop PCs. Learning more about how proteins fold is expected to give medical researchers better understanding of diseases, as well as potential cures.
Proteins control all cellular processes in the human body.
Comprising strings of amino acids that are joined like links of a chain, a protein folds into a highly complex, three-dimensional shape that determines its function. Any change in shape dramatically alters the function of a protein, and even the slightest change in the folding process can turn a desirable protein into a disease. Better understanding of how proteins fold will give scientists and doctors better insight into diseases and ways to combat them. Pharmaceutical companies could design high-tech prescription drugs customized to the specific needs of individual people. And doctors could respond more rapidly to changes in bacteria and viruses that cause them to become drug-resistant.