The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas at Austin has made advances in computing to assist researchers with discovering more effective chemotherapy drugs. TACC employs three projects for carrying out this process with their supercomputers: virtual screening, molecular modeling, and evolutionary analyses.

• Virtual Screening – develops new computational methods using artificial intelligence and high-performance computing-based screening strategies.
• Molecular Modeling – develops theoretical and computational models used to mimic the behavior of molecules.
• Evolutionary Analyses – studies the evolution of plants that are known to be effective chemotherapeutic agents and their genetic relatives.

Researchers are using supercomputers to find new chemotherapy drugs and to test known compounds to determine if they can fight different types of cancer. Recent efforts have yielded promising drug candidates, potential plant-derived compounds, and insights into how to design more effective drugs. You can read the full press release about this novel drug discovery method from AAAS.