Fight against Malaria

1/23/15 Fight against Malaria   Drew Baum, David Baldwin and Sean Badock

Intro to our service-learning project:

            Our service-learning project uses grid computing, which is a way to divide a huge amount of data throughout a network of computers to solve an issue or problem. Grid computing is a much quicker and more efficient way than using just one super computer to do all of the data analysis on one machine. By downloading and running software, grid computing uses unused computer power on a daily basis by a large network of computers that each solves tasks or analyzes data in order to find the solution to the overall problem.

Help Fight Malaria:

            Our group decided to choose a grid computing system that helps to find a cure to Malaria, which “infects 216 million people and kills 650,000 each year”(http://www.fight-malaria.org). Stats like these should not be overlooked. Malaria results in high fever, chills, and flu-like symptoms. In many cases we ask ourselves what can we do about a problem like Malaria. Well, grid computing allows us to help find a cure.

Malaria is a mosquito carried parasite, (Plasmodium falciparum), that infects humans, most commonly in African nations and southern Asia. Malaria is a cycle that seems endless between mosquitoes and humans. It is carried by parasites in mosquitos that are not affected by the parasite, however, the parasite is released into the blood stream of an individual that is bit by a mosquito. The individual will show symptoms after the parasites have reproduced in the liver and infected the red blood cells of the human host. The blood stream is then infected and another uninfected mosquito may bite an individual and the process begins all over again.

http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/index.html

 Malaria can be fatal and the parasite can even mutate, making Malarial drugs useless.  Running this program will help provide information to find the specific protein within the parasite that needs to be targeted along with other useful information regarding Malaria. The website and program we used is called malariacontrol.net. In an effort to help stop the vicious cycle of Malaria, we hope that we can aid the discovery of a better way to fight this disease. 

Malaria-endemic_countries_eastern_hemisphere-CDC.png

http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/index.html