Questions for the folders

As an ex-folder I was wondering how other folders would answer this. First off this isn't supposed to knock folding but I'm sure some flames are on the way anyways.

Why would you want to fold? Aren't you just doing free work for medical/pharmicuedical companies that sure have the money to do themselves? If a folder did find some information about a disease wouldn't they have just made it easier for the medical corporation to charge us for treatment of that very same disease? I'm just wondering what other opinions of this are.

Yes but with out the large scale amount of computers like F@H has it would take longer for the companies to figure it out. So what if they charge alot? Isn't it better than not having the cure in the first place?

i would be less likely to do this for a coroporation. If someone benefits, it will be Stanford first. Also, folding makes me feel like I am getting my money's worth from my computer. It also is an excellent stress test for overclocks. It's also a fun team activity to promote and further get involved with ocforums. I can't think of any reason not to fold. Besides heat problems. But generally people in these forums have that wayyyyyy under control

and as you are an ex-folder, you should start again immediately! It will help you be more believable "contributing member"

I fold for the forums, and also for a cure for cancer. Many realtives on my moms side have died of cancer and I feel im doing my part, just not for my family, but for mandkind in a whole

First of all, all the FAH results are made public, they are not sold as they are for the good of all. Second, FAH has nothing to do with medicines, it has to do with protein mutation. If for example FAH were to solve some medical mystery, like Alzheimer's, the information that would be available would be available to all. If the drug companies can make a drug to prevent/slow/stop the disease, all the better. People donate lots of money to various charities, do you think they (the donors) expect something in return when a cure has been found? I support a Cancer organization called Phase 1, this organization helps to get phase 1 cancer drugs into testing as quick as possible. Yes there are major drug companies providing the drugs that are new, some work some dont but the ones that do can save lots of lives. When phase 1 tests a new drug that goes to market and helps thousands of people should I expect some monetary compensation?

The big thing to remember is this is voluntary, FAH's findings are public domain.

Right on Nik!

nikhsub1 I think you misunderstood, I think you may have missed my point entirely. I'm not saying we should get compensation. If anyone should I would think it should be Sandford for hosting all this all these years. Even though the folding findings would be made public who would be profiting from those findings? You, me, Sanford? No, only a pharmicuedical company would because none of us could make that cure. Its just something that came to mind and I was interested in other opinions. Its not why I stopped folding either, I just decided to go to Seti.

I could care less who benifits financially as I am doing this as a volunteer.
The Drug companies will charge us an arm and a leg for anything they make anyway so...

No wannaoc, you missed my point, I answered your question. You are asking who will monetarily benefit. You are saying that the drug companies will be the only ones do make any money, I am not arguing that point. They have to make money too don't they? My point is that this is bigger than who makes all the money. If someone you knew could take a pill and reverse or stop a fatal diesease, would you care who makes the money? I know I wouldn't. How many people died before a polio vaccine? Before penecillin? Now if you want to argue that medical costs are too high, I'm right next to you, the first to agree, but that is a different issue altogether.

I see 2 choices,

1. Research done on diseases, cure found, drug companies make money, people cured.

2. No research done, no cure found, drug companies still are making money, just on drugs that don't actually work.

I'm for choice 1.

Now if you want to argue that medical costs are too high, I'm right next to you, the first to agree, but that is a different issue altogether.

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Agreed but aren't we just feeding that monster or does anyone think it may help prices go down?

wannaoc said:

Agreed but aren't we just feeding that monster or does anyone think it may help prices go down?

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The only way to make those prices go down is to not buy their products.That would send shock waves all through the medical community.
As far as costs.I will give you an Example of outrageous costs.

My daughter was just born May 6,2005 @4:40am.
She spent 2 weeks in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit.She has Trisomy 18 .Nothing i fold for can save her.It is a terminal condition.

We were being charged $5070 a day before specialists.By the second week the NICU was a over glorified babysitters.They did not want to release her.We being the parents finally got them to release her to HOSPICE care.

This just an example of how Medical care/Pharamceudical companies are working hand in hand.OUCH!

MassRaptor

Wow massraptor, I don't even know what to say? My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family... Hopefully one day in the future, FAH or something, anything, can put an end to things like this.

Nik is spot on with what he says.

FaH aims to look further into how protiens fold and misfold. This has applications not only in pharamaceuticals but in the genetics and physiology fields of biological science. It also has relevance to chemistry.

The results will not immediately produce a magical cure. The results will produce extra insight into how misfolding occurs. What people do with this research is up to them.

At the end of the day, a cure at a cost is better than no cure at all imho. I fold for the contribution to the scientific community.

wannaoc said:

Agreed but aren't we just feeding that monster or does anyone think it may help prices go down?

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Your point makes no sense to me. The pharmaceutical companies are going to charge a lot, so there shouldn't be a cure so that they can't profit? People should die just because the medical companies charge too much?

You're right, HMOs, Hospitals and Doctors make too much money, we should just shut it all down and let people die. It would be better than letting those greedy ******** get their grubby hands on peoples money.

Yes, the costs are outrageous, but I would rather have a cure for cancer at outrageous costs than treatment for cancer at outrageous costs. The cost of the system we have isn't going to change unless there is government intervention...and thats not going to happen anytime soon.

In fact folding@home is probably providing much more research data on distributed computing and programming than it is on the actual biochemical side of things. But that's a good thing too since there are so many uses for that soprt of technology and since single cpu processing power is not getting better anytime soon.

SunRedRX7 said:

I see 2 choices,

1. Research done on diseases, cure found, drug companies make money, people cured.

2. No research done, no cure found, drug companies still are making money, just on drugs that don't actually work.

I'm for choice 1.

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haha well said.

Also, I love how this thread just exploded

Yes we folders are doing free work, but it is not for pharm co's. The work being done is for mankind in general. You cannot place a value on the work being done or any subsequint cures resulting from said work.

You say you stopped folding and changed to SETI. As mentioned above the same applies to SETI. Do you not think someone will profit if contact is made through SETI? I'm 99% sure someone will figure a way to exploit any results from SETI just as they will from FAH.

With that said I'll ask you this question and in the asking I am in no way attacking your decision, but I wonder. What were your reasons for switching to SETI? You say you "just decided to go to SETI" but I find it hard to understand why a person would up and switch on a whim. It seems to me there was or is something that made you decide to change. With the question you ask it also seems to me you felt exploited by FAH. You know what you were right. We are being exploited by FAH and SETI and every other DC project. But I still fold and I do so knowingly. All DC projects have a motive and it's our choice as to which one we support. I chose IMO the one that has the greatest potential to help mankind, FAH.

I'm still folding, but I have to agree with wannaoc. I though of this last Friday whille hearing about seriors getting screwed by big Pharma. I want to find out where the results from Stanford are going. Is this info shared with world research organizations where it's not monopolized on. This is important because lives are at risk due to the diseases we might cure. If it only ends up being sent to big pharma and they release these meds at price gouging rates then this is all for naught. I say this because I watched in 1992 as medical care switched to privatized HMOS and the cost of medical need went to the moon.
I also have 2 rigs running United Devices doing cancer since 2000, UD does have world support. In 2001 we research Anthrax in record time with the grid. I've never heard much about it since but it might be where sipro was created from.

"In democratic governments people vote to make a change, with corporations you have to file class action suits. Corporations gain power and media control and lobby legislation to stop suits. In the end the people are living in a dictatorship".AC

Uh, let's see; why would I want to fold? Both my grandfathers died of cancer, one in his 60's and the other in his 70's. One grandmother died with severe Alzheimer's in her early ninety's and the last year or 2 didn't even recognize her own children and the last 6 months or so was a drooling lunatic due to this insideous disease. My other grandmother died in her eighty's of a heart attack, which spared her from becoming like my other grandmother because she was showing the classic early signs of Alzheimer's. The heart attack was actually a blessing in disguise. My father had prostate cancer in his 60's, which he beat with treatment and his brother died of cancer in his 60's.

To me, that sounds like some good reasons for me to participate in this project, if my participation helps further our understanding of protein misfolding. You say that the big pharmacuetical companies are going to make oodles of money off this research; well you very well could be right. But so could you, using the same data that Stanford is releasing to the public domain, if you could develop it yourself. There is nothing being held back for any particular company with Stanford's research. Also, since this data is already being done, it gives the pharmacuetical companies a head start on research, so they will actually need to spend less on research, maybe making the cure's or treatments developed a little less expensive.

Arkaine23 also brings up another important point too, about the way this project has helped develop distributed computing projects in general. I read this somewhere's else also and I remember the article basically saying what Arkaine23 just posted, in more detail of course.

EDIT: AlabamaCajun, you want to know where the data is? All you have to do is go to the reults page at Stanford and you can look at articles and paper already published from the very basic research that has been done so far.