Some researchers, such as those involved in behavioral and cognitive sciences, have started using the Internet to conduct some of their research.

Last year, for example, Sam Harris, a doctoral candidate at UCLA studying neuroscience (and prominent atheist), conducted a series of surveys to collect data regarding the question, What Do Atheists and Christians Believe (and How Strongly Do They Believe It)?. Over a period of a few weeks, his team amassed 36,781 finished surveys, demonstrating how quickly data can be collected in this medium.

But the Internet isn’t just good for surveys. What if you could contribute to scientific projects aimed at finding treatments for diseases (such as HIV) without having to change your daily schedule? As it happens, you can. What you need is software, and a willingness to donate the processing power under your fingertips at this moment.

Enter the Docking@Home Project, a collaborative effort of the University of Delaware, The Scripps Research Institute, and the University of California – Berkeley. This project allows you to donate the processing power of your “Internet-connected computer to perform scientific calculations that aid in the creation of new and improved medicines.”

Essentially, these researchers are studying protein-ligand docking (modelling that predicts interactions between ligands and proteins). By increasing knowledge of the atomic details of the docking interactions, researchers hope to accelerate the discovery and development of pharmaceuticals that might be used in the treatment of disease.

If you’re interested, you can read more about protein-ligand docking and how this relates to pharmaceuticals here.

So what does one need to do in order to get involved? It’s really very simple. Download the software, install it, join the project, set your preferences, and you’re off. Detailed instructions are available through the project website linked to earlier.

If you’re using Debian or Ubuntu Linux the software is very likely already on your machine, so you shouldn’t have to download anything. Just install from the terminal according to the instructions available through the same link.

As someone trained to maintain networks, one of my first concerns was security. Security is very important these days, with all the types of malware found in the wild and the risks many of us take that cause us to unwittingly become part of distributed networks of computers whose processing power is used to launch attacks on other, more appealing networks. Really, the bottom line is that there is nothing that is impervious to being “hacked,” so it’s legitimate to ask what sort of security measures are in place before signing up.

While it’s up to each of us to decide what level of risk we’re willing to accept, many security concerns can be answered by reading the information found in the Unofficial BOINC Wiki article on the subject, and a review of the types of attacks that might be made detailed in the Security Issues article related to BOINC. There’s also a fairly comprehensive discussion of the reasons some people cite for not taking part can be found in the Rosetta@Home Forum which, although not directly related to the project under discussion here, is relevant in any case.

It’s up to you, really. Though you probably wouldn’t want to donate your computer’s processing power while you’re using it, processing power isn’t exactly something you need to worry about running out of. While you’re at work or asleep, your computer might be helping researchers come just a bit closer to finding treatments for some of the world’s most deadly and debilitating diseases.

There are no guarantees, but what’s not to like?