Grid-computing — a form of distributed computing that enables the extra unused power of computers around the globe to be harnessed towards a common goal — which is already being used to hunt for extra-terrestrials and a cure for cancer, is now being used in the fight against smallpox.

Although smallpox was eradicated in 1980, concerns over the potential use of the smallpox virus as a bioterrorist weapon have led to new approaches to find a cure for this fatal disease. The Smallpox Research Grid Project, launched in February, is a collaborative effort between scientists at institutes including Oxford University and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and companies that provide computer expertise and software, including IBM and United Devices Inc.

The idea is that the idle power of personal computers around the world can be used to screen chemical compounds for their ability to interact with the smallpox virus and stop it from replicating. The hope is that 35 million molecules can be tested and whittled down to the most promising candidates using molecular modelling, and these molecules would then be tested in the lab. As Tom Hawk, the general manager of grid computing told CBS News, “Wet-lab experiments still have to take place. I see this as a homing and narrowing process”.

If you are interested in contributing the unused power of your computer to this project, just go to http://www.grid.org, register and download a screen-saver program from this site. Once installed, this program will be active whenever your computer is on but not in use. In this way, even when you are no longer working, your computer, as part of the computing grid, will be.