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Canadian supercomputer to simulate potential Ebola treatment options
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A supercomputer is being used to simulate the effectiveness of new hypothetical Ebola virus treatments, according to a press release.
Researchers from the University of Toronto have enlisted IBM’s Blue Gene/Q, Canada’s fastest supercomputer, to analyze the use of hypothetical drugs on the disease currently threatening West Africa.
“Our team is focusing on the mechanism Ebola uses to latch on to the cells it infects,” researcher Jeffrey Lee, PhD, of the University of Toronto, said in the release. “If we can interrupt that process with a new drug, it could prevent the virus from replicating, and potentially work against other viruses like Marburg and HIV that use the same mechanism.”
The computer is running software designed to learn from its own results and more efficiently make treatment predictions. Designed by Chematria, a startup housed at the University of Toronto, the technology previously has been used for research on malaria, multiple sclerosis, Clostridium difficile and leukemia.
Figure 1. IBM's Blue Gene/Q is Canada's fastest supercomputer
Source: IBM
“What we are attempting would have been considered science fiction, until now, “Abraham Heifets, PhD, CEO of Chematria, said in the release. “We are going to explore the possible effectiveness of millions of drugs, something that used to take decades of physical research and tens of millions of dollars, in mere days with our technology.
“If we can find promising drug candidates for Ebola using computers alone, it will be a milestone for how we develop cures.”
As of Nov. 12, there have been 14,098 reported cases of Ebola and 5,160 reported deaths, according to WHO. It is the deadliest outbreak of the disease in history.