Whats the difference

[Elspuddy]

Whats the difference between folding @ home and distributed folding??

[Scoofy12]

Here's the short version:
Both projects are attempting to understand protein folding, but in different ways. F@H is attempting to actually simulate the process of folding, starting with a long string of amino acids and generating frames (like a movie) that capture the folding process. This simulation process takes a LONG time (hence distributed computing). A major goal is to understand how the proteins undergo the process of folding.
DF is more into structure prediction, meaning "given this string of amino acids, what is the final structure going to look like?" this means we dont care necessarily about the actual process it undergoes while it folds, just the final structure. We do this by generating a LOT of structures very quickly, and then picking out the best ones (with the lowest RMSD). The goal is to get the structure as accurately as possible, which will allow (for example) drugs to be designed that can interact with it.
If you poke around elsewhere in this forum you can find more detailed discussion on this topic.

[Stardragon]

If you are interested in an in-depth discussion on the topic (and please be warned that it is rather long :D ), take a look at this thread:

http://bane.free-dc.org/forum/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=714

If you have any further questions, or require additional clarifications, don't hesitate to ask us.

[Elspuddy]

thanks guys, just trying to deside on what to do next after rc5 has finshed
:p

[Scott Jensen]

Elspuddy,

And don't forget that Howard (Brian the Fist) gives free full-body Swedish massages to new crunchers. :D