IBM and medical researchers in Japan, Hong Kong, and the US are seeking the public's help in finding prospective treatments for childhood cancers.

The researchers searching for chemical drug candidates that can affect the key molecules and proteins that control cancer cells in several common childhood cancers. However, finding drug candidates is normally an expensive and slow process. To accelerate the process and broaden the search, IBM is providing free access to its World Community Grid, an IBM-funded and managed program that advances scientific research by harnessing computing power"donated" by volunteers around the globe. This resource is the equivalent of a virtual super computer that helps enable scientists to more quickly conduct millions of virtual experiments. These experiments aim to pinpoint promising drug candidates for further study.

Volunteers don't provide time, money or technical expertise to assist with this research effort,called Smash Childhood Cancer. Instead, they participate in World Community Grid by downloading and installing a free app on their computer or Android devices. While otherwise idle, volunteers' devices automatically perform virtual experiments on behalf of the research team. The results are transmitted back to researchers, where they are analyzed.

The global initiative is led by Dr. Akira Nakagawara, an internationally renowned pediatric oncologist, molecular biologist and CEO of the Saga Medical Center KOSEIKAN, in Japan. Dr. Nakagawara used the same research approach on a previous World Community Grid project which successfully identified drug candidates for neuroblastoma,one of the most common cancers in children.

Smash Childhood Cancer expands the search for treatments for neuroblastoma,as well as other forms of childhood cancers including brain tumor, Wilms’ tumor (tumor of the kidney), germ cell tumors (which impact the reproductive and central nervous system), hepatoblastoma (cancer of the liver) and osteosarcoma (cancer of the bone).
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Source: http://www.enterpriseinnovation.net/article/medical-researchers-ibm-launch-crowdsourced-cancer-research-effort-720343000

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