ASTRONOMY

Company officials said they expect the Cray XD1 system's high-performance capabilities to accelerate scientific testing at NIEHS. For example, a nine-month process for modeling a protein structure can now be completed in one to two weeks. There is still a huge gap between the number of known protein amino acid sequences and the number of known 3D structures of proteins. Accurate prediction of protein structures is one of the "grand challenge" problems of biology. Solving these problems could speed understanding of the genetic bases of diseases and lead to more effective drugs and medical treatments. "It is gratifying to know that our new Cray XD1 system will be used by the world-class scientific investigators at NIEHS to improve human health," said Peter Ungaro, Cray senior vice president of sales, marketing and service. "We are excited to help NIEHS pursue this important mission by providing advanced, cost-effective supercomputing power." Cray will install the new supercomputer in first-quarter 2005 in the NIEHS facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The Office of Scientific Director within the NIEHS Division of Intramural Research will operate the system.