One thing missed is what a 'work unit' is....a 'work unit' is a chunk of data that you and I download, crunch and then return to a project. A 'work unit' can be a stand alone pice of data, meaning it alone has the info they are looking for or it can be part of a much larger piece of data that was split into smaller chunks so we don't spend 3 months on one single 'work unit'. MOST projects use the later method, splitting a much larger unit in many smaller pieces, then reassembling those 'work units' back into one large piece after all are reutrned and validated. Normally a project will generate as few 'work units' as they can Scientifically get away with to prove their theory but in most cases it numbers in the thousands to hundreds of thousands. And of course each 'work unit' needs to be returned, validated and plugged into the master database which can then lead to more 'work units' being generated. Scientific Research is a long drawn out process, pc's have made that MUCH faster but you still don't want to put out a drug or procedure that people die from!!!

In the case of Malaria. a child dies every 30 seconds in Africa from Malaria, BUT we users have generated data that is slowing that. We have proven that one drug is not a cure for all 17 types of Malaria, and that how many types you have and the length of time between bites is also important to the treatment you get. As is your age, an infant should NOT get the same treatment as a child, teenager or adult. OUR pc's have PROVED that AND they have PROVED that certain cocktails of drugs work better than others depending on your exposure! In short the process IS working and we ARE making a difference!!!