You are also a researcher

2000/09/24 Kortabarria Olabarria, Beñardo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Genetika

The genes of any human being carry their characteristics: the color of the hair, the height of the person… However, the genes are only indicators. Those who make these indicators a reality are proteins. Thanks to the Human Genome program, scientists have the opportunity to identify and sequence all genes, but they do not know how proteins "read" genetic information and bring it to reality.

Proteins are composed of amino acids. Amino acids are, in fact, only the parts that form the protein. However, these amino acids are localized, located in one way or another… proteins are formed with different function. So, for example, there can be a protein that controls the functioning of the muscles, a protein that takes care of the hair color…. Therefore, scientists are currently investigating the possibilities of combining amino acids, since the proteins that control all the functions of the human being are the result of these combinations.

If a failure occurs in the association of amino acids, the function of the protein will not be adequate and can occur Alhzeimer, diabetes, etc. In it, it can be observed that knowing properly the functioning of proteins, understanding the way of reading the information of the genes, how the amino acids are structured, and understanding the causes of mistakes can have a great importance for scientists and the human being in general.

So scientists know what and how to research. The problem is that research on the functioning of proteins can be very long, perhaps too long. In order to carry out this research, scientists need high-capacity computer tools. These tools, if they have had them, are called, however, minority. According to them, if the current speed of research is maintained, more than 40 years will be needed to obtain exhaustive information on proteins. Depending on where you look, it can be 40 years. For this reason, some of the researchers who work in research in the human genome,

The folderol program has been launched. The aim of this program is to accelerate protein research. The Folderol program or project is led by biologist Scott Le Grand. A 40-year-old man who works in the research of the human genome and who besides being a biologist has become a computer programmer. Through the Folderol program, launched by him and his research team, Le Grand has sought the computer help of internet users, internet fans, to investigate proteins.

The folderol program aims to analyze all possible combinations of amino acids that occur in proteins. We must not forget that proteins are the origin of all the functions of the human body. The system, as indicated in the introduction, is very similar to that used in the SETI@home project and is being used. The SETI project has used computers connected to the Internet for two years in search of remnants of extraterrestrial life. Participants had to put on the computer a small program that analyzes the information sent by a radio telescope through the Internet. Although the idea seems a bit crazy and curious, it is not so crazy, since, despite not having found traces of life, the project SETI@home has allowed to open a new way of Internet access for science, in which thousands of computers have participated. Those responsible for the Folderol project, obviously, have learned the way perfectly: to put the computers of the world working for each project. The objective on this occasion is the research of proteins, but the path is the personal computer itself.

To participate in the project you must go to the website of Folderol ( www.folderol.org ). There, completely free, you can download the screen protector program. Every time this screensavers begin to work, that is, as each one takes a coffee, it will join the database of Folderol and begin to work on the processing of the data, to send the work done to the database of Folderol. Therefore, having the computer on and not working is enough to participate in protein research. You can become an unbeaten researcher. And you wouldn't be the first to decide it. Imagine that the project was launched on September 8, 24 hours later, more than 1,000 computers connected to Folderol.

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