The world of computer technology can be mind boggling but to make a change by volunteering your computer doesn't require any special knowledge of the intricate workings of how grid computing works. The worst case scenario might be that you see a slight slow down in your data transfer while the best case scenario of volunteering your computer to a joint venture between a medical university and a giant and expert in computer grid architecture is that you might be associated to the discovery of a new antiviral drug which could potentially save millions of lives.

The project is called "Influenza Antiviral Drug Search" and it is being carried out by the University of Texas Medical Branch. The work at UofT involves processing information on those molecules which can attach themselves to the H1N1 influenza virus and stop the virus from spreading. However there are millions of potential molecules to study and to conduct such research in the chemistry lab would require thousands of years. So UTMB has gone to IBM for assistance with their "Influenza Antiviral Drug Search" project

Grid computing is high performance computing based on grid technology which mimics the electrical grid architecture. This parallel computing is done with the involvement of the everyday internet user. The idea behind grid computing is to have thousands of computers band together to form an army of thinking machines called a "virtual supercomputer". Actually the parallel computing grid architecture is much more powerful than simply a supercomputer. There are many of these at work on the planet today and the "virtual supercomputer" used in the "virtual chemistry experiments" is IBM's World Community Grid virtual supercomputer.

Each computer involved in the joint venture between IBM and UTMB and the volunteer, which could potentially bring about a new influenza antiviral drug to combat the Mexican flu or H1N1, is supplied by someone like you who is willing to donate a portion of their bandwidth to IBM. This donation does not mean that you are losing the use of your computer. It simply means that your computer is being used to it's full capacity when IBM runs a virtual chemical test on one of those millions of molecules that needs to be tested in virtual reality.

Grid computing reduces the thousands of years of research into a few months. What happens is that if a certain molecule is identified by the "virtual supercomputer" as being a candidate that could be of use in the making of an H1N1 antiviral drug then the virtual test is removed from the database of the robot and given to a human medical researcher who takes it to the next step of the "Influenza Antiviral Drug Search" project.

Basically anyone with a personal computer can become a volunteer for the "Influenza Antiviral Drug Search" project. 

To join the army of the World Community Grid and to get into grid computing is a matter of registering your PC at the following website.

The worst that can happen by volunteering your computer is that you and your personal computer become the co-discoverers of an antiviral drug which may save millions of lives.