Researchers Use Video Game Technology To Battle Cancer
See Full ImageWho says video games aren't good for anything?
Right this minute, the technology used in our fancy interactive entertainment experiences is helping researchers do important stuff...you know, like search for cures to cancer and other deadly diseases.
According to an article at E! Science News, biophysicist and computer scientist Samuel Cho is currently using graphics processing units (GPUs) in his lab at Wake Forest University. The purpose? "To simulate the inner workings of Human cells." Duh. We all knew that, right?
The interesting part is that gamers sort of made such technology more accessible because a lot of people bought it; hence, the cost of that tech has fallen. "If it wasn't for gamers who kept buying these GPUs, the prices would've have dropped, and we couldn't have used them for science," said Cho. And now that he has a closer look at how cells live, divide and die, this "opens up possibilities for new targets for tumor-killing drugs." Involved in Cho's work is the human telomerase enzyme, which is only found in cancerous cells:
"The cell keeps reproducing over and over, and that's the very definition of cancer. By knowing how telomerase folds and functions, we provide a new area for researching cancer treatments."
A new drug would stop this enzyme from adding onto the DNA, so the cell dies. Cho is also starting to focus on video game technology for working with the bacterial ribosome, "a molecular system 200 times larger than the human telomerase enzyme RNA molecule." His team is starting to use graphics cards to perform cell simulations, and it's a lot faster than basic computing. Finished Cho:
"We have hijacked this technology to perform simulations very, very quickly on much larger biomolecular systems."
I freakin' hated Biology. ...but this is cool.
-- Kudos to BikerSaint for the tip.
Tags: video games, cancer research, game technology
2/16/2012 8:41:50 PM John Shepard
Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter
Comments (15 posts)
Qubex
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 11:37:24 PM
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
1 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 11:51:22 PM
5 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:27:28 AM
Reply
BTW John, thanks for the tip credit.
2 up, 0 down
wolfsinner
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 12:38:11 AM
Reply
...and good thing I never took Biology.
1 up, 0 down
Temjin001
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 10:37:21 AM
1 up, 0 down
wolfsinner
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 10:57:58 AM
It's actually Serizawa (Takayuki Yamada) from Crows Zero.
1 up, 0 down
Temjin001
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 11:05:09 AM
0 up, 0 down
wolfsinner
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 11:10:33 AM
0 up, 0 down
___________
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 2:25:04 AM
Reply
that argument is silly, if gamers did not buy GPUs as much as they change their underpants they would of gone down the drain!
what ive never been able to understand is WTFs the point of new cards if theres no games taking advantage of them?
any game out now you can run on a single 580, so lets say the future kepler series Nvidias suppose to release in may.
why do we need them when their lesser cards are already overkill?
why use a crane to pick up a spoon?
0 up, 6 down
Ludicrous_Liam
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 6:34:38 AM
Reply
4 up, 0 down
CanadianGuy420
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 5:34:04 PM
1 up, 0 down
Ludicrous_Liam
Saturday, February 18, 2012 @ 7:27:27 AM
1 up, 0 down
CanadianGuy420
Saturday, February 18, 2012 @ 9:22:37 AM
0 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Reply
Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ 10:24:00 PM