Editing Folding@home (section)

{{short description|Distributed computing project simulating protein folding}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Folding@home
| logo = FAH Logo.svg
| logo_size = 200px
| author = Vijay Pande
| developer = Pande Laboratory, [[Sony]], [[Nvidia]], [[ATI Technologies]], Joseph Coffland, Cauldron Development<ref name="About Partners"/>
| released = {{Start date and age|2000|10|01}}
| latest release version = 8.4.9
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2024|11|20}}<ref name="Public client releases"/>
| operating system = [[Microsoft Windows]], [[macOS]], [[Linux]], [[PlayStation 3]] (discontinued as of firmware version 4.30)
| platform = [[IA-32]], [[x86-64]], [[ARM64]], [[CUDA]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://foldingathome.org/alternative-downloads/?lng=en | title=Alternative Downloads }}</ref>
| language = English, French, Spanish, Swedish
| genre = [[Distributed computing]]
| license = Proprietary software (before version 8)<ref name="Open Source FAQ"/><br>[[GPL-3.0-or-later]] (version 8)
| website = {{official URL}}
}}

'''Folding@home''' ('''FAH''' or '''F@h''') is a [[distributed computing]] project aimed to help scientists develop new therapeutics for a variety of diseases by the means of simulating [[protein dynamics]]. This includes the process of [[protein folding]] and the movements of [[protein]]s, and is reliant on simulations run on volunteers' [[personal computer]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Folding@home|n.d.e}}: "Folding@home (FAH or F@h) is a distributed computing project for simulating protein dynamics, including the process of protein folding and the movements of proteins implicated in a variety of diseases. It brings together citizen scientists who volunteer to run simulations of protein dynamics on their personal computers. Insights from this data are helping scientists to better understand biology, and providing new opportunities for developing therapeutics."</ref> Folding@home is currently based at the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and led by [[Greg Bowman]], a former student of [[Vijay S. Pande|Vijay Pande]].<ref name="FAH leadership change"/>

The project utilizes [[graphics processing unit]]s (GPUs), [[central processing unit]]s (CPUs), and [[ARM architecture|ARM]] processors like those on the [[Raspberry Pi]] for distributed computing and scientific research. The project uses statistical [[simulation]] methodology that is a [[paradigm shift]] from traditional computing methods.<ref name="10.1016/j.ymeth.2010.06.002"/> As part of the [[client–server model]] [[network architecture]], the volunteered machines each receive pieces of a simulation (work units), complete them, and return them to the project's [[database server]]s, where the units are compiled into an overall simulation. Volunteers can track their contributions on the Folding@home website, which makes volunteers' participation competitive and encourages long-term involvement.

Folding@home is one of the world's fastest computing systems. With heightened interest in the project as a result of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]],<ref>{{harvnb|News 12 Staff|2020}}: "Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Folding@home has seen a significant surge in downloads, a clear indication that people around the world are concerned about doing their part to help researchers find a remedy to this virus," said Dr. Sina Rabbany, dean of the DeMatteis School."</ref> the system achieved a speed of approximately 1.22 [[FLOPS|exaflops]] by late March 2020 and reached 2.43 exaflops by April 12, 2020,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://stats.foldingathome.org/os | archive-url = https://archive.today/20200412111010/https://stats.foldingathome.org/os | url-status = dead | archive-date = April 12, 2020 | title = Client Statistics by OS | author = Pande lab | publisher = Archive.is | access-date = April 12, 2020}}</ref> making it the world's first [[Exascale computing|exaflop computing system]]. This level of performance from its large-scale computing network has allowed researchers to run [[Analysis of algorithms|computationally costly]] atomic-level simulations of protein folding thousands of times longer than formerly achieved. Since its launch on October&nbsp;1, 2000, Folding@home has been involved in the production of 226 [[Academic publishing|scientific research papers]].<ref name="papers-july-2020">{{cite web |title=Papers & Results |url=https://foldingathome.org/papers-results/ |website=Folding@home.org |access-date=December 9, 2021}}</ref> Results from the project's simulations agree well with experiments.<ref name="10.1021/ja9090353"/><ref name="10.1073/pnas.1003962107"/><ref name="10.1038/nature01160"/>