---
title: "World Community Grid"
chunk: 3/7
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Community_Grid"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:12:51.468676+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

In February 2014, the Help Fight Childhood Cancer project scientists announced the discovery of 7 compounds that destroy neuroblastoma cancer cells without any apparent side effects. This discovery, made with the support of the WCG volunteers, is a positive step towards a new treatment. The project has announced that it is seeking a collaboration with a pharmaceutical company in order to develop the compounds into treatments. Given the success of the project, the scientists have stated that they are already planning a follow-up project which will focus on other pediatric cancers, possibly in collaboration with a newly formed Pan-Asian oncology group, of which they are a founding member.
As of July 2012, the Human Proteome Folding Project has published several papers using data from WCG. These include a paper on validation methods and a new database of protein structure and function predictions; a paper on the identification of proteins that regulate human processes; a paper on the analysis of the genomes from five plant families and their proteomes, for which WCG was used in the creation of over 29,000 protein structures; a paper on the proteome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
The GO Fight Against Malaria project reported the discovery of several molecules that are effective against Malaria and Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (including TDR-TB, for which there is no treatment available). The project also tested for new molecules against MRSA, Filariasis and Bubonic Plague. Laboratory testing continues in order to turn those molecules into possible treatments. GFAM was also the first project ever to perform a billion different docking calculations. A paper was published in January 2015, with two more pending submission. In June 2015, the project reported that of the two "hits" discovered against a drug-resistant tuberculosis strain, several "analogs" have been synthesized, the best one of which inhibits the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is relatively non-toxic to mammalian cells. Lack of funding prevented further research into the data.
The Discovering Dengue Drugs - Together project scientists reported the discovery of several new Dengue protease inhibitors, most of which also inhibit the West Nile virus protease. A handful of these have already entered "crucial pre-clinical pharmacokinetic and efficacy studies". In November 2014, an update reported that the scientists have a drug lead that disables a key enzyme that allows the Dengue virus to replicate. It has also shown the same behaviour in other flaviviruses, such as the West Nile virus. No negative side effects such as toxicity, carcinogenicity or mutagenicity have been observed, making this drug lead a very strong antiviral drug candidate for these viruses. The scientists are now working to synthesize variants of the molecule to improve its activity and enter planned pre-clinical and clinical trials. However, in an October 2018 update, the research team reported that none of their current designs had produced a highly potent dengue protease inhibitor that could be tested in vivo.
In June 2013, the Clean Energy Project published a database of over 2.3 million organic molecules which have had their properties characterized. Of these, 35,000 molecules have shown the potential to double the efficiency over organic solar cells currently being produced. Before this initiative, scientists knew of just a handful of carbon-based materials that were able to convert sunlight into electricity efficiently.
In February 2010, the FightAIDS@Home project scientists announced that they have found two compounds which make a potentially new class of AIDS-fighting drugs possible. The compounds attach to the virus at newly discovered binding sites, and thus can be used to "enhance existing therapies, treat drug-resistant strains of the disease, and slow the evolution of drug resistance in the virus."
In July 2015, the Drug Search for Leishmaniasis project announced it had tested the top 10 compounds with highest predicted efficiency out of over 100 identified via WCG workunits. Of those 10, 4 showed "positive results" in in vitro testing, with one showing "an exceptionally promising result". In August 2017, in vivo testing of the 4 compounds on hamsters showed favourable results, with one compound inducing "an almost complete curing of the lesions in two out of five hamsters." However, in a March 2018 update, the research team announced none of the 10 tested compounds had sufficient anti-leishmaniasis activity.
In July 2015, the Computing for Clean Water project announced that a paper had been published in the Nature Nanotechnology journal describing a new type of water filter efficiently utilising nanotubes. "[The] nanotubes are made of single-atom-thick sheets of carbon atoms, called graphene, rolled up into tiny tubes, with diameters of just a few nanometers - one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. The size of the tubes allows water molecules to pass through, but blocks larger pathogens and contaminants, purifying the water." By running simulations on WCG, the scientists discovered that certain kinds of natural vibrations called phonons, under specific conditions, can lead to more than 300% increased flow of water through the nanotubes, compared to previous theoretical predictions.
In April 2015, the Say No To Schistosoma project scientists reported that subsequent analysis had been performed, and the three most promising candidate substances had been identified for in vitro testing.
In March 2019, FightAIDS@Home researchers published a paper describing a "Novel Intersubunit Interaction Critical for HIV-1 Core Assembly" that "defines a Potentially Targetable Inhibitor Binding Pocket". Using World Community Grid, more than 1.6 million compounds were used to target 20 conformations of this pocket. Preliminary results suggest it to be a plausible binding site for antiviral compounds. Further analysis of these compounds are the subject of an independent study.

== Active subprojects ==