Hey guys!
As you might be able to tell I am not in my usual spot right now for a video like this
and I am willing to bet you are not in your normal routine either.
We are all dealing with a pretty different reality these days because of the novel coronavirus.
It is a topsy turvy world out there but I've got a really cool update for you on how the
national labs and the Department of Energy are using supercomputing to join the fight
against this pandemic.
But first, let's roll the intro, shall we?
Because some things have to stay familiar, right?
*upbeat science music* First things first, some terminology.
The actual virus that makes people sick is called SARS-COV-2 and the disease the virus
causes is called COVID-19 and as I am sure most of you are aware the whole world is racing
to find a vaccine and other treatments so when we can start to put our fears about this
virus behind us.
Now to make a vaccine you have to understand how the molecules on the surface of the virus
bind to their corresponding puzzle piece receptor molecules on the surface of human cells, like
what shape those molecules are and how they behave and a bunch of other really complicated
biological stuff at the molecular level.
Simulations of complicated interactions like this let scientists look at lots and lots
of potential solutions way faster than they could say in a lab.
But at those high levels of detail simulations like that especially of lots of different
possible options require a lot of computing power.
Plus there has been so much new research from everyone around the world about this new virus
that there is just a huge pile of existing information to work with.
I mean there are 10s of thousands of research articles already about this virus and there
are hundreds of millions of chemical compounds that might be useful to treat it.
So if we want to use those giant datasets to help us in our search for solutions, we
are going to need a pretty powerful computer.
Like literally the most powerful computers in the world to be exact.
So, the U.S. has just announced a collaboration between industry players, universities, Department
of Energy national labs and federal agencies, who have all volunteered free use of our nation's
most powerful computers and the experts who run them to the global research community.
So scientists and research teams from around the world are now able to submit their COVID-19
research proposal via an online portal.
And the hope with this initiative is between the brightest minds in the world who are already
applying themselves to this problem and the fastest and most powerful computing resources
in the world, we will be able to significantly speed up our development of vaccines and other
treatments.
This collaboration will empower researchers to bring this pandemic to an end, as soon
as possible and make sure we are prepared for the future in a world where this disease
now exists.
Lawrence Livermore National Lab in particular is adapting existing resources to find solutions
to the pandemic.
Teams of our researchers are using computer models that we have previously used for cancer
drug discovery to search for potential antibody and antiviral drug treaments.
We are also adapting our rapid molecular diagnostics capabilities as a tool that could potentially
help doctors rapidly test for and diagnose patients with COVID-19.
So while this is a scary time, it is also really encouraging and exciting to see scientists
around the globe in epidemiology, virology, genetics, medicine, data science, AI, high
performance computing and so many other fields come together with the common goal of making
this world safer.
There are superheroes out there guys and they wear lab coats.
They are working in our hospitals and they are here at the national labs using the best
supercomputers in the world to find solutions to this crisis.
We here at Lawrence Livermore from our family to yours hope you are being safe and healthy.
Please stay home, wash your hands and as always thank you so much for watching.
I'll see you next time.