Techno-News Blog Ray Schroeder, editor, OTEL - University of Illinois at Springfield |
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Friday, May 31, 2002
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_22/b3785111.htm Who Needs Supercomputers? Each workday, the scientists at Monsanto Co. (MON ) try to develop new ways to genetically alter food staples such as rice, corn, and wheat to make them more resistant to the harsh elements of drought and cold. That kind of DNA tinkering requires the painstaking matching of genetic patterns to other known sequences so scientists can figure out what traits yield better crops. The amount of data collected by Monsanto scientists on animal and plant genes fills CDs that would stack 500 feet high--enough to send even the most powerful supercomputer into cardiac arrest.... Two years ago, Monsanto made a breakthrough, though it wasn't genetic. The company is pioneering a technology called grid computing, software that lets users plug into computing power on the Internet or private networks as easily as electricity can be drawn from the power grid. Instead of spending tens of millions of dollars buying bigger computers, Monsanto taps hundreds of smaller--and less costly--Compaq Computer and Sun Microsystems machines already in use at its St. Louis headquarters and Cereon's offices in Cambridge, Mass....
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