CHICAGO, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A team of scientists is developing a "virtual tumor," a computer model viewed over the Internet by cancer researchers around the globe. It is used to observe the tumor as it develops from a single cell organism to a neoplasm, an uncontrolled growth of tissue.
The cutting-edge project, in the planning stages right now, and others like it, promise to harness the power of the Internet in the battle against cancer -- and in other crucial scientific endeavors -- in the coming years, experts told UPI's The Web.
Last week that proposal came a step closer to reality, as IBM Corp. announced it is working with Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a grid-computing project that will help cancer researchers share information.
"The National Cancer Institute has identified this as a critical issue in advancing cancer research," said Glen Brandow, a spokesman for IBM.
Grid computing is now the hottest area of networking. Grid computing, simply put, exploits the untapped processing capacity of thousands of computers simultaneously via the Internet. This method of harnessing computer power can process huge volumes of data faster than ever before. Long the province of die-hard computer geeks, who worked on abstract mathematical problems with seemingly little commercial or practical applicability, grid computing is now going mainstream.
Experts think grid computing is a fundamental change in the way networks are being employed -- one that may be more intelligently managed than in the past.
The project involving MIT, Mass Gen and IBM is a leading example of what researchers are doing with grid computing. The partners are collaborating to determine how the deployment of a grid-based, distributed-computing infrastructure may improve the work of cancer researchers dispersed around the world. Thus far, the trio has built a grid of high-performance computers to help researchers in Cambridge, Mass., gain insights through advanced brain tumor modeling, using IBM eServer pSeries supercomputers, running on networks by Harvard and MIT. The computers also are linked to computer servers at IBM's Cambridge lab.
A few weeks ago, the project got a big boost when the National Cancer Institute -- part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., -- awarded $14.9 million to Dr. Thomas Deisboeck, of Harvard and Mass Gen among others, to develop computer simulations that will improve the understanding of tumor growth.
The NCI has said the lack of common technical standards for sharing of cancer information among researchers has stalled the fight against cancer.
"The NCI's important mission can only be achieved through these types of public-private partnerships which leverage the strengths of different institutions in a variety of disciplines," said Dr. Dan Gallahan, associate director of NCI's division of cancer biology, in a statement. "There is nowhere that this is more true than in our battle against cancer."
Cancer research is but one of many scientific fields benefiting from the development of grid computing. At Indiana University in Bloomington, researchers are "organizing and studying grid computing, especially as a way of tackling computationally intense science projects," said David Bricker, a spokesman for the university.
Other institutions also are eyeing big grid projects, often in partnerships with the government and commercial organizations.
"We are doing significant work in grid computing at Marist -- (National Science Foundation) grants, partnership with IBM," said Tim Massie, a spokesman for Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
The computing research has an international flavor, too, as Queens University, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is working with the British Broadcasting Corp. on a grid-computing project, a spokesman said.
Purely commercial collaborations are emerging as well, particularly in the financial services field.
Valen Technologies in Denver recently partnered with Sun Microsystems to provide predictive modeling solutions to Wall Street and the insurance industry, a company spokesman said.
Browne & Co., a financial printing and document management company in New York City, this year implemented a grid-computing initiative to "improve the use of distributed computing power during peak business times," said Mari Silbey, a spokeswoman.
The company also also looking at "other, potential grid initiatives in 2005," she added.
Companies such as Aurema, in Cupertino, Calif., are using grid projects for workload management at the office. Qlusters in Palo Alto, Calif., another grid computing firm, is employing grid networks to manage Linux databases.
Even big-name computer consultancies such as EDS have developed technology strategies for how to deal with grid computing in the future.
Others, such as Katana Technology in Acton, Mass., -- with talent hailing from former tech giant Digital Equipment Corp., -- are developing grid projects for 2005 debut, but are remaining in stealth mode for now, not letting on for competitors or even would-be customers what they are doing.
There even are glamorous grid computing projects underway, such as the music industry's use of grid networks to process royalties based on the sales of downloaded music and CDs. The effort is being led by Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and others.
"Enterprises are focused on deploying data and applications more efficiently and effectively in order to realize the highest (return on investment) and lowest (total cost of ownership) possible," said a spokesman for Cisco, the networking technology developer. "One way companies are doing this is through grid computing, or provisioning data and applications dynamically between areas of high and low demand. This allows organizations with intensive data-processing needs to more effectively use their computing and network capacity to dramatically improve speed and efficiency."
Many experts, including John Adler, a consultant at Convergent Solutions Group, a computer storage company in Apple Valley, Minn., said there are many good applications for grid computing, such as improved survivability of data should a network be disabled. He cautioned, however, there is a lot of hype about the grid-computing concept, too.
"There's definitely a grid bandwagon out there right now," said Foster D. Hinshaw, chief technology officer of Netezza Corp., of Framingham, Mass., a maker of data appliances used by Fortune 500 companies such as AT&T Wireless/Cingular. "But corporations need to exercise caution before they go that route."
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The Web is a weekly series by UPI covering the scientific, technical and cultural implications of the World Wide Web. E-mail: [email protected]
