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One of the world's most powerful supercomputers has simulated a moment in the life of a real virus. ����� �� ���� ����� �� ������ �� �������� ������� ������ ���� �� ���� ����� �����. The simulation is the first to capture a whole biological organism in such intricate molecular detail. �������� �� ������ ������� ����� ������ ��������� �� ��� ��� �������� �������� �������.

"Computational Biology has finally reached the level of sophistication and utility of the 1970’s video game Pong. "����� ���������� �� ��� ����� ��� ����� �� ������ ���������� �� 1970 ���� ����� ������.

But it sounds like we should reach beyond Space Invaders and Pac Man levels in 5 years…. ����� ���� ��� ������ �� ��� ��� ���� �� ������ ������ ������ ��������� ���������� ��� ��������� �� 5 �����…. Maybe we’ll actually have the bioinfo equivalent of Excel by then." ���� ����� ����� ���� �� ����� bioinfo ���� ����� ��� �����. "

Running on a machine at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Urbana, the program calculated how each of the million or so atoms in the virus and a surrounding drop of salt water was interacting with almost every other atom every femtosecond, or millionth of a billionth of a second. ������� ��� ��� �� ������ ������ ��������� supercomputing � ������� � �������� ��� ���� �� �� ���� ����� ����� �� �� ����� ��� �� ������� �������� ���� �� ������ ������� ���� ������� �� ���� �� �� ���� ������ �� �� ��� femtosecond � �� �� ����� ����� �� �������.

The team managed to model the entire virus in action for 50 billionths of a second. ������ ��� �� ����� ���� �� ������� �� ����� ���� 50 billionths �� �������. Such a task would take a desktop computer around 35 years, says Schulten. ��� ������ ��� ���� ����� ����� ����� 35 ���� � ���� schulten. "This is just a first glimpse," he says. "��� ���� ���� ����� �" ����. "But it looks gorgeous." "��� ���� ����".

The model shows that the virus coat collapses without its genetic material. ������� ��� ��� �� ������� ��� �� ����� ���� ������ �������. This suggests that, when reproducing, the virus builds its coat around the genetic material rather than inserting the genetic material into a complete coat. ���� ���� ��� ��� ����� ������� � ����� ������� ����� ��� ���� ������ �������� ���� �� ����� ���� ����� ����� ��� ����. "We saw something that is truly revolutionary," Schulten says. "��� ������ �� �� ������ ��� �" ���� schulten.

Ultimately, computational biologists would like to simulate larger viruses such as influenza or the complex biological systems in a cell - and for longer periods, such as the thousandths of a second that it might take to observe proteins in a cell switch a gene off. ��� ����� ������ � ��� �� ����� ������� ����� ������� ���� �� ��������� ��� ���������� �� ����� ���������� ������� �� ������ -- ������� ���� � ��� ����� �� ������� � ���� ���� �� ������ ������� ���������� �� ���� ������ �� �������. These computer models should allow researchers to discover details about such processes that they may miss by observing a real virus. ��� ����� ������� ������ �� ���� �������� ������� ������ �� ��� �������� ���� �� ���� ����� �� ���� ������ �������.

But such simulations will not become possible until the next generation of supercomputers are built in the next five years, Schulten says. ���� ��� �������� �� ���� ����� ��� ����� ������ �� �������� ������� ���� �� ������� ����� ������� � ���� schulten.

Source: ������ : Nature �����