New Computers
Donation of equipment will speed research at Center for Structural Biology

The Center for Structural Biology has received a donation of computer equipment from Sun Microsystems, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., to facilitate research in virology, immunology, medicinal chemistry and other biomedical fields by faculty, graduate students and post-graduate fellows.

The donation of four Sun Ultra workstations and peripherals will allow researchers to create three-dimensional representations of molecular structures. The research has wide-ranging implications for progress in the search for treatments for a host of human ailments, including AIDS.

A. Joshua Wand, professor of chemistry, biological sciences and biophysics and director of the center, noted, "Work that is ongoing in the laboratories of professors Frederick Sachs and Anthony Auerbach of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is extremely computer-intensive. The Sun workstations will speed their ability to analyze and then visualize the data collected up to five times faster than previously."

-Paula Witherell, Reporter Contributor