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World Community Grid Forums
Category: Support
Forum: Suggestions / Feedback
Thread: Exaggerated claim could destroy WCG's credibility if it doesn't deliver |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 7
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Rickjb
Veteran Cruncher Australia Joined: Sep 17, 2006 Post Count: 666 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Dear WCG
In the WCG email newsletter "World Community Grid - Exciting News & Updates" that I received on 24/3/10, there is the claim in the FAAH section: * Scripps Research Institute scientists recently found two compounds that will lead to new treatments for drug-resistant HIV strains (my emphasis). At the destination of the link provided, Two Compounds Discovered that Pave the Way for New Class of AIDS Drug, the claim is: * The scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have found two compounds which can attach to HIV protease at newly discovered binding sites. This may lead to a new class of drug treatments for AIDS which can address the drug resistant HIV strains. (my emphasis). The fact that a new potential therapeutic mechanism and potential drugs have been found is good news, but I suggest that there is a high probability that these will not actually lead to useful drugs. However, now that you have promised that they will lead to new treatments, the consequences of such a failure are now quite serious. Potential donors of research time and/or computer resources might take the attitude that WCG is always promising but never delivering, and decide not to participate. |
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damir1978
Senior Cruncher Joined: Apr 16, 2007 Post Count: 397 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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The logical thought behind what you write about "will" vs. "may" is correct. However, it might be that you are more passionate than needed on this topic and that your conclusion is wildly off reality.
----------------------------------------Really….. why do you think people will leave WCG if the 2 compounds will not get the job done? Because people are intolerant on the scientific effort like you are? Maybe some... but 999999.9999999% will get back to work with WCG first to get their badges... and secondly to provide resources for promising science. |
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JmBoullier
Former Community Advisor Normandy - France Joined: Jan 26, 2007 Post Count: 3715 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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damir1978,
----------------------------------------If you place badges first then I think that "999999.9999999%" is slightly(?) too much. Never forget the proportion between members who discuss badges here and all these members who are not even registered to this forum.  Humour aside I would say that if these two compounds are not giving the expected results it is another reason to go on searching for others. And I agree that "may" would have been wiser than "will". Cheers. Jean. |
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Hypernova
Master Cruncher Audaces Fortuna Juvat ! Vaud - Switzerland Joined: Dec 16, 2008 Post Count: 1908 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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Thanks to our joint efforts we singled out two compounds. This was our crunching target, Identify serious candidates. We got not one but two. This is a big success, period.
---------------------------------------- Other than by luck, serendipity, or gods hand, the only way to advance today is by an enormous crunching effort to systematically try and cross-correlate all possible combinations . Now we all hope that these potential candidates end up in a new treatment or drug that is put finally on the market. This is the absolute ultimate goal, a kind of crunchers Nirvana. But that one is not in our hand. Our goal is the first step to find potential candidates that will allow the scientific community to advance in the direction of a new drug or treatment. And advancing is also better understanding, or opening the door to new directions (see DDDT2) that in the end will lead to a success against disease. In view of this the word will and may are both correct. On the short term may is right on the very long term will is given because in a way or another it will be a contribution to the solution along the path leading to it.  |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
You're absolutely correct, it shoul have said "may" instead of "will". Thanks for pointing that out.
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nasher
Veteran Cruncher USA Joined: Dec 2, 2005 Post Count: 1423 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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personaly i dont care if "may" or "will" was used.
----------------------------------------as far as i can tell every work unit we do here even if it dosnt come with a result teaches us a way not to do things i always think of it as Edison did with the light bulb Remember Thomas Edison? If it weren't for him we'd probably all be watching TV by candlelight. But, did you know that it took him 10,000 attempts to create the electric light bulb? During his efforts to invent the light bulb, a reporter came to him and asked, "How many times are you going to fail at creating the light bulb?" Mr. Edison turned and looked at the reporter and said, "Son, I haven't failed! I've simply discovered another way not to invent the light bulb!" remember just cause we didnt find a way to cure aids we found another way not to cure aids.  |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Good point, Rickjb, let the news writers take note.
But seriously, what kind of attention span/memory do you think us volunteers have? Personally, I would have had merely the vaguest memory of some encouraging news on the WCG AIDS front only a week after reading the email (and I work in the pharmaceutical field). Unfortunately, the development of any new drug necessarily takes many years, and people waiting and hoping for a new drug will become painfully aware of that. So, I can't see large numbers of us in, say, 8 or 10 years time remembering the exact wording of that email and saying "What the...? Those 2 new drugs we were promised in an email (from a non-scientist) 10 years ago haven't appeared on the market yet! WCG's credibilty is destroyed, I'm giving up in disgust (on whatever new projects are running at that time)! Sure its a typo, and teh "will" may have given false hope to some. But a significant threat to WCG as a whole, it surely is not. |
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