Community TSC
The Rothberg Institute For Childhood Diseases is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for children suffering from Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). We operate at the intersection of molecular biology, chemistry, computer science, and nanotechnology.
Our modern understanding of cancer comes from animal models of TSC, and the first description of autism comes from a TSC patient. Work done on TSC will have a direct impact on cancer research and can also form a basis for understanding and treating other childhood disorders. TSC is a genetic disorder that leads to benign tumors in multiple organs, including the brain, kidneys, heart, eyes, lungs and other organs. During the first few years, the severity of TSC can range from mild skin abnormalities to, in severe cases, seizures, mental retardation, renal failure, or the need for a lung transplant in young women with TSC.
The CommunityTSC project uses Sengent’s CommunityOS™ Grid computing framework and its D2OL™ software and the idle time on your personal computer to help make drugs to treat patients with TSC. It is safe and does not interfere with any other operation of your computer.
CommunityOS™ lets us tie 1000's of computers into a single machine able to rival (or beat with more volunteers) the worlds largest super computers. D2OL™ is the software program that is downloaded to your computer and used to evaluate drug candidates for Tuberous Sclerosis. Again, no knowledge needed, and if you close the window it runs invisible behind the scenes.
The Rothberg Institute is funding some of the best researchers at Harvard, Yale, and the Fox chase cancer center to find new targets for intervention in the treatment of TSC. Those targets are fed into drug development programs right at the ICCB at Harvard, as well at the Rothberg Institute.
D2OL™ searches millions of candidate compounds (about 2 million of these compounds are available to purchase from chemical suppliers around the world) for potential drugs that fit into the targets we discover, like fitting a key to a lock. As a user, no intervention is required and the software will test candidates as long as it is running. You do not need to be connected to the internet for it to work.