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Browse by Category: Biological and Biomedical Science
NCSA gifts supercomputer to Illinois genomic research center
Release date: 2013-02-18
Department of Homeland Security funds project to improve software security
Release date: 2012-11-01
HPCbio's Jongeneel participating in African bioinformatics effort
Release date: 2012-10-26
Illinois' HPCbio provides support for genomics research
Release date: 2012-09-20
"Bioinformatics Challenge" relies on NCSA brains and brawn
Release date: 2012-09-14
No magic wands
Victor Jongeneel leads the bioinformatics efforts of NCSA and the University of Illinois. He recently spoke with Access' Barbara Jewett about what bioinformatics is—and is not.
Release date: 2012-08-27
Presentations available from Summer School on Molecular and Multiscale Simulation
Release date: 2012-06-29
Illinois supercomputers, expertise to help determine winner of genomics prize
Release date: 2012-02-27
Leap to whole-cell simulations
Researchers have built a computer model of the crowded interior of a bacterial cell that—in a test of its response to sugar in its environment—accurately simulates the behavior of living cells.
Release date: 2012-01-10
Bigger isn't better
Researchers team up to get a closer, longer look at the actions of smaller biological structures by preparing the AMBER code to take advantage of Blue Waters.
Release date: 2012-01-10
Drug delivery
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago rely on NCSA resources to develop nanocarriers that deliver drugs right to the affected area.
Release date: 2011-09-09
NCSA, Mayo explore techniques to visualize genetic information for clinicians
Release date: 2011-02-28
Bringing together computing, biomedical research
Victor Jongeneel joined the University of Illinois in 2010 to bring together expertise and resources from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the Institute for Genomic Biology to create a biomedical informatics program. Watch the video to learn more about how this effort is developing.
Release date: 2011-01-11
Illinois workshop charts path, and roadblocks, toward personalized medicine
Release date: 2010-11-23
Early warning system for illness outbreaks
NCSA partners with health organizations to develop INDICATOR, a tool to catch outbreaks and help formulate response plans.
Release date: 2010-10-14
Getting the rabbit in the hat
Tulane University researchers investigate how tiny units of genetic material fold into long fibers—and impact some of our bodies' most fundamental processes.
Release date: 2010-09-17
NCSA to participate in effort to integrate human, animal and environmental health
Release date: 2010-09-13
TeraGrid resources help Harvard team gain insights into deafness
Release date: 2010-04-19
Jongeneel joins NCSA, IGB to spearhead bio/medical informatics program
Release date: 2010-03-01
Get in the game
The graphics processing units in NCSA's Lincoln cluster speed molecular dynamics simulations that drive the development of detergents and drug-delivery systems.
Release date: 2009-11-12
It simply works
Common sense and simple, old-fashioned tools saved patients from pain medication related death in one study conducted at an Illinois hospital. Now researchers hope to translate what they learned into an expanded electronic program that can transform hospital practices across the country and significantly reduce medication errors and adverse reactions.
Release date: 2009-11-12
NCSA computers power honey bee research
For NCSA Faculty Fellow Saurabh Sinha, a University of Illinois assistant professor of computer science, supercomputing resources were an essential resource for research into the genetic roots of honey bees' social behavior.
Release date: 2009-07-28
Genome-wide search for regulatory sequences in a newly sequenced genome: comparative genomics in the large divergence regime
Saurabh Sinha, a University of Illinois assistant professor of computer science, talks about his research using NCSA's supercomputers.
Release date: 2009-07-10
Study of chromosome breakpoints aided by tool developed at NCSA
Release date: 2009-04-23
Closing the gaps
Biophysicists at the University of Pennsylvania used NCSA's Abe to clarify a mysterious interaction between cholesterol and neurotransmitter receptors.
Release date: 2009-04-15
NCSA fellow studies embryonic stem cells
Embryonic stem cells have great potential to treat diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and diabetes. Using NCSA's computing resources, Illinois professor Sheng Zhong researches the transcriptional control that is thought to be key to these stem cells maintaining their undifferentiated state.
Release date: 2009-03-03
A kiss to be avoided
Kissing bug. Although the name sounds friendly, the insect is anything but. Why? When the kissing bug puckers up, it often leaves behind a calling card for future disease and possibly even death.
Release date: 2008-12-02
The best of both worlds: DNA-carbon nanotube hybrids
Release date: 2008-11-18
From clay to blood to drugs
Release date: 2008-11-18
The Computational Microscope
University of Illinois researcher Klaus Schulten discusses how NCSA's high-performance computing systems advance his biomolecular research, and how the Blue Waters sustained petaflop system will enable scientists in his field to reach new breakthroughs.
Release date: 2008-10-28
Bone builder
Researchers exploit NCSA resources to develop a bone replacement material that uses the body's own tissues.
Release date: 2008-10-07
Penn Biophysicists Create New Model for Protein-Cholesterol Interactions in Brain and Muscle Tissue
Release date: 2008-09-26
Mass Transport Modeling of Tumor Contrast Agent Enhancement
Michael Aref, a resident at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and an assistant professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, discusses efforts to improve the diagnostic power of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.
Release date: 2008-06-24
Towards a Unified Computational Framework for Prostate Pathology
University of Illinois bioengineering researcher Rohit Bhargava describes how he collaborated with NCSA to explore new techniques for cancer diagnosis. Bhargava worked with NCSA through the center's Faculty Fellows program.
Release date: 2008-04-17
Simulations take aim at HIV
Carlos Simmerling of the State University of New York Stony Brook details his group's work using high-performance computing to investigate dynamic aspects of biomolecular structure and function, with particular focus on their research into HIV protease.
Release date: 2008-03-18
Biomolecular Simulation Toward the Petascale
University of Utah computational researcher Thomas E. Cheatham III looks at both positive and negative trends on the national supercomputing scene during a talk recorded at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Release date: 2008-03-04
From Megaflops to Teraflops: From Molecules to Cells
Klaus Schulten discusses the ways in which the computing power provided by the National Science Foundation, including systems at NCSA, accelerates his research.
Release date: 2008-02-05
Illinois researcher simulates photosynthesis to develop more productive plants
Release date: 2007-11-09
Gimme structure
University of Utah researchers use parallel genetic algorithms to predict crystal structures for a variety of organic substances.
Release date: 2007-10-30
Small wonders
Scientists tap NCSA resources to design a tunable semiconductor membrane that could be used for protein filtering or DNA sequencing.
Release date: 2007-10-30
NCSA's Xavier Llorà earns honors for recent work
Release date: 2007-09-21
An amazing race
Six amino acid sequences. Thousands of atoms. Millions of time steps. Could protein researchers using NCSA's Tungsten solve these protein structures...and test out a theory about how they folded...all in three months?
Release date: 2007-08-24
NCSA resources aid design of semiconductor membrane
Release date: 2007-07-12
Researchers use TeraGrid to model critical membrane transport mechanism
Using X-ray data and advanced computer simulations carried out on TeraGrid systems at NCSA, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, and Indiana University, researchers have modeled a critical part of a mechanism by which bacteria take up large molecules.
Release date: 2007-06-12
One tree to bind them
A comprehensive history of bumble bee evolution -- completed with the help of NCSA -- cuts against the conventional wisdom on how the insects' color patterns and social behavior developed.
Release date: 2007-05-03
Stony Brook scientist earns award for humanitarian research for simulation carried out at NCSA
Release date: 2007-04-17
Protein wranglers
NCSA staff and UIUC biophysics researchers collaborate on new techniques for studying molecular dynamics involving managing large numbers of simulations with a powerful grid application.
Release date: 2007-01-10
Where are they now?
Release date: 2006-12-12
3D volume reconstruction technique improves accuracy and performance
Release date: 2006-12-06
Team investigates polymerase-beta actions in DNA duplication
Release date: 2006-12-06
The quest for a cure
Due to its central role in processing viral polypeptide precursors, HIV-1 protease (HIV-PR) continues to be one of the primary targets of anti-AIDS drug discovery. A greater understanding of the mechanistic events associated with binding of HIV-PR substrates and inhibitors is critical for the design of more potent inhibitors of the enzyme.
Release date: 2006-11-09
NCSA powers simulations of ion channel
Release date: 2006-10-03
Deciphering Protein Structures
David Baker's Rosetta code is unlocking the secrets of protein structure, and NCSA is providing cyber-resources to its broad community of users.
Release date: 2006-09-13
On the Pulse of Grid Computing
Brown University researchers complete the largest simulation of arterial blood flow ever and begin work on a platform that will allow the bioengineering community to use it.
Release date: 2006-07-11
NCSA's SGI Altix advances HIV research
In the race to fight AIDS, researchers have long worked to view the moments at which "starter molecules" for HIV are most vulnerable to new drugs.
Release date: 2006-06-07
NCSA users publish first simulation of an entire life form
Release date: 2006-03-10
Enzyme Antics
Computer models of enzyme function are revealing how nature's biochemical gadgets operate.
Release date: 2006-01-23
Selfish Proteins
Inteins aren't what you'd call "helping enzymes." They don't assist other proteins in the reactions that transform them from their primary states into the protein complexes that enable them to perform their unique biological functions. Instead, they remove themselves entirely from the proteins of which they are components—and then splice the remaining parts together to form a whole molecule.
Release date: 2005-08-23
At the Breaking Point
Comparative genomics research benefits from NCSA data analysis and visualization tools—and lands a paper in Science.
Release date: 2005-07-22
Understanding the Protein Lock
Using a novel multiscale approach, researchers at the University of Illinois gain insight into a mechanism that suppresses gene expression.
Release date: 2005-05-03
Mini Motors
Understanding the mechanism of the proteins that drive muscle movement and other essential biological functions could lead to better treatments for high blood pressure and heart disease.
Release date: 2005-02-22
Forecasting the Fold
Efforts to understand protein folding and unfolding could lead to
treatments for a wide range of diseases.
Release date: 2005-01-11
Tuning in Tumors
A new understanding of nuclear magnetic resonance could lead to better techniques for detecting cancer.
Release date: 2004-05-11
A Science of Big Numbers
GADU, developed by members of the Alliance's expeditions, blasts through some of the acquisition, analysis, and storage challenges that surround bioinformatics.
Release date: 2003-11-04
Cruising with the Top Down
University of Illinois and NCSA researchers, using an uncommon mass spectrometer and the Alliance's Condor computing system, craft a new method of identifying proteins and characterizing changes in those proteins.
Release date: 2003-10-07
The Future of Antibiotic Ammunition
Antimicrobial peptides are among the "new" antibiotics being studied by a University of Minnesota research team.
Release date: 2003-09-09
Multiscaling a Cell Membrane
University of Utah researchers bridge the gap between atomic-scale simulations and whole-cell models.
Release date: 2003-08-08
Dynamic DNA
Molecular dynamics simulations on an Alliance cluster help biochemists understand how damaged DNA is recognized by a cell's genetic repair system.
Release date: 2002-05-07
Marks of Extinction
During the late Permian period—roughly 260 million years ago—at least 90 percent of Earth's species vanished, never to be seen again. Researchers use Alliance resources to explore why.
Release date: 2002-04-23
Long-Distance Medicine
University of Illinois and NCSA researchers are bringing the medical specialists to the patients.
Release date: 2002-01-29
Expanding the Cancer-Fighting Arsenal
Hamilton College undergrads study natural "biological warheads" on an Alliance SGI Origin2000—and experience the realities of research science first-hand.
Release date: 2002-01-15
Watching Their Cholesterol
Alliance scientists have their eyes on cholesterol, all right, but not just for their health. They're set to make discoveries about how cells communicate and take some of the first steps toward nanodevices based on living cells.
Release date: 2001-10-09
Parasites Lost
Protein structure research leads to the discovery that anti-osteoporosis drugs inhibit the organisms that cause malaria and other tropical diseases.
Release date: 2001-05-08
Polymerase Precision
Human DNA is complex, but errors in its replication are rare. With the help of an Alliance SGI Origin2000 supercomputer, researchers are simulating one of the enzymes important to making this replication process reliable.
Release date: 2001-03-13
A Flower's Family Tree
Gene data allow researchers to recover the evolutionary history of plants, but even the smallest dataset can require impossibly large computations. Using an Alliance Linux cluster and newly designed software, a team from the University of New Mexico and the University of Texas have increased the speed of the process millionfold for one family of plants.
Release date: 2001-02-27
Say Ah-ha!
Help from NCSA's Performance Engineering group and time
on an SGI Origin2000 supercomputer allows a U of I cancer
research team to focus on science, not computational methods.
Release date: 2001-01-30
Getting a Grip on AIDS
After adding an Alliance SGI Origin2000 to their supercomputing arsenal, a research team from the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center and Carnegie Mellon University further improved their understanding of an enzyme that is part of the virus that causes AIDS.
Release date: 2000-09-19
Piecing it Together
Techniques and software developed at the National Center for Macromolecular Imaging will help structural biologists develop high-resolution, three-dimensional models of biological particles.
Release date: 2000-06-13
Chaos and the Fibrillating Heart
Today's heart simulations may someday make traumatic jolts from heart defibrillators a thing of the past.
Release date: 2000-03-14
Safe for Salmon
Nearly half of newly hatched salmon die as they run to the ocean. Understanding how water flows around dams may improve their odds.
Release date: 1999-07-13
Nuances of DNA
Slight structural variations within a stretch of DNA cause it to bend in ways that determine whether a gene sits dormant or cranks out thousands of copies. Scientists are uncovering how molecular dynamics govern this bending.
Release date: 1999-05-18
Industrial Strength Antibodies
Release date: 1998-12-01
Code That Keeps Blood Flowing
Life for the millions of Americans who suffer from atherosclerosis is one of uncertainty and fear. A fatty blockage of the arteries gradually obstructs blood flow and ultimately causes the heart to stop beating. Their only warning may be a short-lived but blinding pain that feels as if someone is tightening a belt around their chest. Seemingly defying medicines and surgical procedures, atherosclerosis remains one of the leading causes of heart attacks in the U.S. and around the world.
Release date: 1998-11-17
Blueprints of the Protein Factory
The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from a single cell. It is from the progeny of this parent cell that we take our looks; we still share genes aro und, and the resemblance of the enzymes of grasses to those of whales is a family resemblance.
Release date: 1998-03-31
Parallel Volume Rendering of the Female Dataset
Despite great advances in the use of computers to create images from scientific data, supercomputers are still churning out vast volumes of data faster than they can be made into useful images that scientists can understand. Specialists in the field of parallel volume rendering harness the power of supercomputers themselves to address this problem.
Release date: 1997-11-14
Biology Workbench Unravels the Human Genome
This summer researchers from the Institute for Biomedical Computing at Washington University in St. Louis selected Biology Workbench to integrate the dozens of genome- related tools and massive databases emanating from the Human Genome Project.
Release date: 1997-04-04
NCSA Collaborates to Showcase Mummy Visualizations
A Roman period Egyptian mummy (carbon dated at about 190 BC, plus or minus 160 years) owned by the UI's World Heritage Museum, UIUC campus, has undergone a series of nondestructive analyses to determine embalming procedures, age, gender, and medical history of the individual inside the wrappings. This interdisciplinary effort involving almost a dozen research teams at the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses -- including NCSA's Biological Imaging Group (BIG) -- has been ongoing since 1989, the year the mummy was donated to the museum.
Release date: 1997-04-04
Kids and Their Mummy
Students from the Urbana (IL) Middle School visited NCSA's Beckman Institute facilities in December for a demonstration in NCSA's CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) (TM). Rachael Brady (bottom left) used Crumbs software to show the students a mummy (top left) in virtual reality. Brady is a codeveloper of the Crumbs software, which can be used to visualize a variety of datasets. (Shown center left is Brady using Crumbs to visualize a chick embryo.)
Release date: 1997-04-04
Biology Workbench
It has all the databases and analysis tools molecular or structural biologists want. To use it, they only need access to the Internet.
Release date: 1997-01-10
