Folding happens at an extremely rapid pace, often in a matter of microseconds. However, each step of the folding process is enormously complex, and computers simply can't calculate all of the variables. There are so many variables and calculations to be done in the space of nanoseconds that the PC simply can't keep up, according to Pande. Simple proteins assemble in about 10,000 nanoseconds, and one 400MHz computer can simulate 1 nanosecond of assembly time in about a day, Pande said. This means 1,000 participants would be needed to simulate a simple protein fold in 10 days, and that's just for simple folds.
More complex proteins can take far longer.
The Pande Group used a software developer's kit for building its service, called the Mithral Client-Server SDK . Pande, a scientist, didn't want to be consumed with the computing side of it. Now that researchers know the Mithral SDK, they can build a client in a week or two, he said. But all results will be open and published. Because genes are the blueprint for forming proteins, just knowing the human genome sequence is like having a list of all the parts in your car.