Are you looking for a way to help with the current crisis, but don’t have as much extra time
on your hands as some of us, or if you don’t think you have the skillset to help with the more
technical projects? Well, if you have a graphics card in your computer, you can help!
Folding@Home is a long-running project that crowdsources
graphics card horsepower the world over to run simulation on protein folding. Folding refers to the
shape that proteins take in the human body. Simulating the way proteins take shape can help understand
how they perform their functions as antibodies and enzymes. It can also lead to new information about why
proteins sometimes don’t fold correctly, resulting in diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s,
and many forms of cancer.
In addition to that great work, the team at Folding@home has turned their attention to
running simulations on how the viral proteins
in COVID-19 fold, so that therapeutics can be designed to attack the virus.
If you’d like to contribute your computer’s spare time to that effort, you can download the
software here to start folding
Now that we all have so much extra time in our lives
to do activities, I wanted to
create a blog to highlight some that are particularly worthy of your time.
First up is https://helpwithcovid.com, a website that
allows you to sign-up for projects designed to help deal with COVID-19. Some of the projects
include a privacy-conscious contact tracing app, a map of facilities equipped to handle
COVID-19 cases, and a platform that connects the elderly to local delivery services and
volunteers to help them get groceries and other necessities. You can read about each of
the projects, what skills they need, and sign-up to volunteer.
There’s also a section dedicated to offers from organizations designed to help those
affected by COVID-19, and those working to stop it. It’s a great way to discover something
meaningful to contribute your time to if you find yourself looking for some way to help,
but unsure where to begin.
Tune in tomorrow for more ways to help.