KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Oak Ridge National Laboratories is home to the world's most powerful supercomputer, Summit. With it, researchers may have taken a huge step in the fight against the COVID-19 virus.
Researchers used Summit to test how more than 8,000 chemical compounds interacted with the virus. They were searching for molecules that could be used to stop the virus from being able to bind and infect healthy cells.
By the end of their experiments, they found 77 compounds that had the potential to help with future research on the virus. The chemicals they researched stick to the part of the virus that connects with cells, interfering with the virus's ability to bind to cells and spread.
The virus is part of the same family of viruses as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus, called coronavirus. So, the researchers got the idea to experiment with these compounds by looking at chemicals researchers used in the fight against SARS.
“Summit was needed to rapidly get the simulation results we needed," said Jeremy C. Smith, Governor’s Chair at the University of Tennessee and director of the UT/ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics. "It took us a day or two whereas it would have taken months on a normal computer."
Although the findings may not be a cure, they will help guide future experiments on the virus. By using Summit, researchers could get the results they needed quickly.
A Middle Tennessee man tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday. He had mild symptoms and isolated at home, health officials said. They also urged that the risk to the general public remains low.