Editing Folding@home (section)

=== Viruses ===
Folding@home is assisting in research towards preventing some [[virus]]es, such as [[influenza]] and [[HIV]], from recognizing and entering [[Cell (biology)|biological cells]].<ref name="diseases FAQ"/> In 2011, Folding@home began simulations of the dynamics of the enzyme [[RNase H]], a key component of HIV, to try to design drugs to deactivate it.<ref name="forum: 10125"/> Folding@home has also been used to study [[membrane fusion]], an essential event for [[viral entry|viral infection]] and a wide range of biological functions. This fusion involves [[conformational change]]s of viral fusion proteins and [[protein docking]],<ref name="978-0-340-66316-5"/> but the exact molecular mechanisms behind fusion remain largely unknown.<ref name="10.1039/c0cs00115e"/> Fusion events may consist of over a half million atoms interacting for hundreds of microseconds. This complexity limits typical computer simulations to about ten thousand atoms over tens of nanoseconds: a difference of several orders of magnitude.<ref name="10.1038/cr.2010.57"/> The development of models to predict the mechanisms of membrane fusion will assist in the scientific understanding of how to target the process with antiviral drugs.<ref name="Peter Kasson"/> In 2006, scientists applied Markov state models and the Folding@home network to discover two pathways for fusion and gain other mechanistic insights.<ref name="10.1038/cr.2010.57"/>

Following detailed simulations from Folding@home of small cells known as [[vesicle (biology)|vesicles]], in 2007, the Pande lab introduced a new computing method to measure the [[topology]] of its structural changes during fusion.<ref name="10.1093/bioinformatics/btm250"/> In 2009, researchers used Folding@home to study mutations of [[Hemagglutinin (influenza)|influenza hemagglutinin]], a protein that attaches a virus to its [[Host (biology)|host]] cell and assists with viral entry. Mutations to hemagglutinin affect [[binding affinity|how well the protein binds]] to a host's [[cell surface receptor]] molecules, which determines how [[infectivity|infective]] the virus strain is to the host organism. Knowledge of the effects of hemagglutinin mutations assists in the development of [[antiviral drug]]s.<ref name="10.1021/ja904557w"/><ref name="19209725, 2811693"/> As of 2012, Folding@home continues to simulate the folding and interactions of hemagglutinin, complementing experimental studies at the [[University of Virginia]].<ref name="diseases FAQ"/><ref name="typepad: kasson update"/>

In March 2020, Folding@home launched a program to assist researchers around the world who are working on finding a cure and learning more about the [[COVID-19 pandemic|coronavirus pandemic]]. The initial wave of projects simulate potentially druggable protein targets from SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the related SARS-CoV virus, about which there is significantly more data available.<ref name="tomshw-fah">{{cite web |last1=Broekhuijsen |first1=Niels |title=Help Cure Coronavirus with Your PC's Leftover Processing Power |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/news/folding-fight-coronavirus |website=Tom's Hardware |access-date=March 12, 2020 |date=March 3, 2020}}</ref><ref name="fah-newspost">{{cite web |last1=Bowman |first1=Greg |title=Folding@home takes up the fight against COVID-19 / 2019-nCoV |url=https://foldingathome.org/2020/02/27/foldinghome-takes-up-the-fight-against-covid-19-2019-ncov/ |website=Folding@home |access-date=March 12, 2020 |date=February 27, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.hpcwire.com/2020/03/16/foldinghome-turns-its-massive-crowdsourced-computer-network-against-covid-19/ |title = Folding@home Turns Its Massive Crowdsourced Computer Network Against COVID-19|date = March 16, 2020}}</ref>