Supercomputing time for research against Covid-19

Rebecca Wade from the Molecular and Celullar Modeling (MCM) group at HITS was awarded 3,250,000 core hours on the Marconi cluster at Cineca, one of the largest computing centers in Europe, for the research project “DyCoVin – Interactions and dynamics of SARS-CoV 2 spike-heparin complex.” The goal is to pinpoint the role of certain molecules involved in the process of SARS-Cov2 infection using realistic computer simulations. The researchers want to characterize the structure and dynamics of putative binding patches for heparin-like compounds on the spike receptor. This approach could impact the treatment of the viral infection because heparin is already used in the treatment of other lung diseases, and recent clinical trials suggest that inhaled heparin for lung diseases is beneficial and safe. The project is being pursued in collaboration with HITS visiting scientist Giulia Paiardi andher tutor Marco Rusnati (University of Brescia, Italy).