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Intel, Microsoft, United Devices, the Department
of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and the National Foundation
for Cancer Research (NFCR) ask computer users around the world to
join with them in the Anthrax Research Project, an international
effort designed to help scientists develop a treatment for the Anthrax
toxin.
News. 8th March 2002 The results of the anthrax project
run from the Oxford University's Department of Chemistry will today
be handed to the US Department of Defence and the UK government.
Professor Graham Richards will hand over a compact disc containing
data of some 300,000 molecules which look like promising candidates
to form the basis for a cure for anthrax. The
hand-over event will take place at the UK Embassy in Washington
DC.
News. 4th March 2002 The results from the UD.com members
indicate 376, 064 molecules as hits from
the 3.5 billion screened.
News. 19th Feb 2002 The University of Oxford & United
Devices is pleased to announce that as of 19th February 2002, the
screening phase of the Anthrax Research
Project has been completed, four weeks after the project was
started.
News: 1st Feb 2002 Oxford Scientists: Meir Glick, Guy H.
Grant and W. Graham Richards "Pinpointing anthrax-toxin
inhibitors" have published a paper in Nature Biotech describing
the science behind this research project. c.f. biotech.nature.com
By running the screensaver, individuals had been donating their
computer�s spare resources to build a virtual supercomputer
capable of analyzing many billions of molecules in a fraction of
the time it would take in a laboratory.
This accelerated analysis will help scientists identify drug candidates
that might be a treatment for the Anthrax toxin, rendering it useless
as a weapon.
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Figure. A proposed small molecule anthrax toxin inhibitor. The
gold coloured molecule binds to the anthrax toxin, blocking its
further chemistry and preventing the toxin entering cells.
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