Microsoft Research has released to the open source community the source code for a set of analytical software tools designed to help scientists carry out AIDS research.

The software tools are intended to help other researchers speed up the process of identifying crucial elements of an effective cellular vaccine by sorting through thousands of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) strains.

Researchers can either used the source code to develop applications or used the pre-configured format Microsoft has provided. By sharing the code publicly for free, Microsoft is hoping to attract researchers and scientists to use or build upon the tools to speed up research on vaccine development.

Knowing its machine-learning technology could be used for AIDS research, Microsoft started its pioneering work on AIDS research in 2005. Microsoft AIDS research since then has involved roughly a dozen of Microsoft researchers, who worked with doctors and scientists in Microsoft labs.

“We apply technology to some of the world’s toughest technical and societal challenges,” says David Heckerman, who devotes himself to vaccine work as the lead researcher of the Machine Learning and Applied Statistics Group at Microsoft Research. “And with 10,000 people per day dying of AIDS, this world health crisis is certainly one of those challenges.”

Dr. James Mullins, a professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Microbiology said “The medical research tools developed by Microsoft prove that we can make more progress in the battle against HIV when experts in various fields pool their resources and work together.”

“Our work with Microsoft Research to combine biological and computer sciences has already been very productive in moving our vaccine design efforts forward. I am quite certain that the tools that have and are being developed at Microsoft have far more exciting potential for closing in on the designs that will most likely bring success,” Mullins said.

The source code is available for free from Microsoft’s CodePlex Web site.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 at 11:01 pm under Microsoft.

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