Massachusetts-based biotech firm Berg, which makes use of synthetic intelligence (AI) and different superior expertise to analysis and develop therapies, plans on utilizing the Summit supercomputer on the Department of Energy laboratory. The firm hopes to make use of the highly effective laptop to discover potential preventives and coverings for COVID-19.
According to Niven Narain, Berg president and CEO, the supercomputer provides a complicated, high-tech pathway to discovering potential options for the virus behind the pandemic.
“ORNL’s Summit supercomputer presents unprecedented capabilities to address some of the most pressing challenges in science. The system’s unmatched speed offers critical potential in conducting research rapidly to match the demands of the outbreak,” he mentioned.
“This joint effort will permit us to mobilize world class sources and mix BERG’s AI capabilities to conduct complete therapeutic analysis that may result in a faster path in combating COVID-19,” Narain added.
Jeremy Smith, governor’s chair on the University of Tennessee and director of the UT/ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics, mentioned the stakeholders are optimistic in regards to the partnership’s potential.
“Our hope is that this agreement will lay a strong foundation to tackle the virus,” Smith mentioned. “This is exactly the kind of extraordinary situation the Summit system was designed for.”
Smith’s analysis on the Summit supercomputer (reportedly the primary ever partnership between a biotech agency and governmental division) includes using simulations to research drug compounds with the potential to forestall host cell an infection. The partnership with Berg reportedly goals to increase this effort by combining Berg’s human-derived illness mannequin for speedy identification of targets with ORNL’s drug improvement analysis to determine the best-ranked therapy candidates.
With Berg’s entry to the world’s strongest supercomputer, the corporate reportedly will be capable to leverage its Interrogative Biology platform to help in conducting analysis that identifies high-priority targets the place drug therapy could possibly be launched to deal with COVID-19 infections.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the one largest supporter of primary analysis in the bodily sciences in the US.