Wednesday 16 December 2009

Petascale Tools and Genomic Evolution

Abstract from post:
Technological advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing have opened up the possibility of determining how living things are related by analyzing the ways in which their genes have been rearranged on chromosomes. However, inferring such evolutionary relationships from rearrangement events is computationally intensive on even the most advanced computing systems available today.

Research recently funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 aims to develop computational tools that will utilize next-generation petascale computers to understand genomic evolution. The four-year $1 million project, supported by the National Science Foundation's PetaApps program, was awarded to a team of universities that includes the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of South Carolina, and The Pennsylvania State University. 

Author: Hmmm Petascale Tools that's a new term for me! But I dun really get the details of what the author plan to do. AFAIK, Computational problems are always based on the present.
So if the biggest baddest computer that you have isn't enough for you, you basically have 2 options 
a) Buy more/new computers
b) improve your algorithm

So are they are developing  tools that will be used on Petascale computers which doesn't exist yet? Or are they developing algorithm for tools that will need petascale computers but can run on present computing powers?


Ahhh the vagaries of grant application




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