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January
19, 2001
Department
of Energy Announces Research and Development Agreement
between Sandia Labs and Celera Genomics with Technology
Provided by Compaq
WASHINGTON, D.C.- The U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) announced today that Sandia National Laboratories
and Celera Genomics (NYSE:CRA), an Applera Corporation
business, have signed a Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement. Compaq Computer Corporation
(NYSE:CPQ) will provide the project technology.
The goal of the project is to develop the next
generation software and computer hardware solutions
that will be specifically designed for the demands
of computational biology as well as a full range
of life sciences applications.
Celera and Sandia signed the agreement in a ceremony
at the Department of Energy with Secretary of
Energy Bill Richardso1n presiding. Celera, Sandia
and Compaq will work together to increase computing
capability with the goal of achieving 100 trillion
operations per second (100 TeraOPS). By sharing
some computing technology developed by Sandia,
Celera and Compaq may ultimately reach the "petacruncher"
(1,000 TeraOPS) level.
This level of cooperation is necessary to meet
the dramatic increases in performance required
for emerging genomics and proteomics applications
at affordable prices, and brings together the
capabilities of three leaders in the fields of
bioinformatics, high performance computing, and
massively parallel systems. Proteomics is the
study of the function, structure and interactions
of proteins in cells, including humans and other
organisms.
"The next stage of the biotechnology revolution
that was started by the Human Genome Program will
be fueled by the successful marriage of molecular
biology with high performance computing science,"
said Secretary Richardson. "The Department
of Energy, as it helped develop the technology
that made the human genome project possible, once
again, is forging ahead to provide the tools to
bring the genome to life."
"The key aspect of this R&D relationship
is the simultaneous provision of algorithmic support,
design of actual application software, and development
of the system platform by three organizations
with world-class competence in their respective
areas," said Bill Blake, Vice President of
High Performance Technical Computing at Compaq.
"This effort is a direct response to the
challenge by Celera's president, J. Craig Venter,
who said that even the most powerful of today's
supercomputers do not meet the needs of his company's
work in the genomic era. Our intent with this
alliance is to apply the same full system modeling
approach to bioscience that has been so successfully
applied to physical sciences in the DOE/NNSA Stockpile
Stewardship program."
J. Craig Venter, Celera's president and chief
scientific officer, said, "Just three years
ago, the computational needs of biology were thought
to be minor and irrelevant to the computing industry.
Today, biologists are setting the pace of development
for the industry. At Celera, we take pride in
excelling in the application of computers to biology
and the new era in medicine that is developing
as a result. As Compaq and the Department of Energy
move toward creation of the next generation of
supercomputers for defense purposes, we look forward
to helping both groups develop the new machines,
software and algorithms to advance life sciences."
Said Bill Camp, Sandia director of computation,
computers and mathematics, "Delivering affordable
and scalable computer architectures is the foundation
of modern supercomputing and has been the focus
of Sandia research for more than a decade. Our
knowledge will be useful because understanding
the complexity of the human genome requires manipulating
ever vaster amounts of information, using more
advanced computing technologies than was required
even for the assembly of the human genome itself.
So we view this relationship as strategic for
our continuing missions as a DOE/NNSA national
security laboratory, look forward to providing
world-class expertise in parallel algorithms and
systems software in the cause of human health,
and welcome the opportunity to play a role in
developing what may be some of the most exciting
science in recent human history."
The alliance will use Compaq Alpha processors
connected in massively parallel configuration
with extremely high bandwidth, and low latency
mesh interconnects.
Compaq and Sandia will collaborate on the development
of system hardware and software. Both have extensive
experience with supercomputers based on Alpha.
Compaq already manufactures a line of supercomputers,
the AlphaServer SC series, that was recently selected
by the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA) as the architecture for the world's most
powerful computer, the ASCI Q system, that will
deliver 30 trillion operations per second when
delivered in 2002. ASCI, the Accelerated Strategic
Computing Initiative, is a key component of the
Stockpile Stewardship program to ensure the safety
and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons
stockpile in the absence of nuclear testing.
Sandia currently operates the most powerful Linux-based
supercomputer in existence, CplantTM, which employs
more than 1600 Alpha processors. Sandia also is
home to ASCI Red, the first TeraOp supercomputer,
until very recently the fastest supercomputer
in the world.
The alliance will focus on future generations
of the AlphaServer SC series, and the goal is
to create a prototype in the 2004 time frame.
Celera and Sandia will concentrate on creation
of advanced algorithms for biology research, and
on new visualization technologies for analyzing
the massive quantities of experimental data from
high-throughput instruments.
All three groups will contribute to integrating
the system hardware and software and on optimizing
performance.
Driving the design for this next-generation supercomputer
are anticipated computational and data management
requirements for proteomics. These requirements
are expected to be vastly more complicated than
the pattern recognition and assembly operations
required to sequence the human genome. Researchers
are counting on proteomics to take advantage of
genomic databases in developing new medicines,
crops, materials and solutions to challenges in
energy development and environmental cleanup.
About Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation, a Fortune Global
100 company, is the largest supplier of computing
systems in the world. Compaq designs, develops,
manufactures and markets hardware, software, solutions,
and services, including industry-leading enterprise
computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical
solutions, and communications products, commercial
desktop and portable products, and consumer PCs.
Compaq products and services are sold in more
than 200 countries directly to businesses, through
a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners,
and directly to businesses and consumers through
Compaq's e-commerce Web site at http://www.compaq.com.
Compaq markets its products and services primarily
to customers from the business, home, government,
and education sectors. Customer support and information
about Compaq and its products and services are
available at http://www.compaq.com.
About Celera
Applera Corporation, formerly PE Corporation,
comprises two operating groups. The Celera Genomics
Group, headquartered in Rockville, MD, intends
to be the definitive source of genomic and related
medical information. Celera has developed three
business units: the On-line Information Business,
Discovery Sciences, and Discovery Services, all
of which build upon Celera's generation, integration,
and analysis of biological information. Celera
intends to enable therapeutic discoveries both
through its own application of its scientific
capabilities and in partnership with pharmaceutical
and biotechnology companies. The Applied Biosystems
Group (NYSE:ABI) develops and markets instrument-based
systems, reagents, software, and contract services
to the life science industry and research community.
Customers use these tools to analyze nucleic acids
(DNA and RNA) and proteins in order to make scientific
discoveries, develop new pharmaceuticals, and
conduct standardized testing. Applied Biosystems
is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and reported
sales of $1.4 billion during fiscal 2000. Information
about Applera Corporation, including reports and
other information filed by the company with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, is available
on the World Wide Web at www.applera.com, or by
telephoning 800.762.6923.
About Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia is a multiprogram DOE laboratory, operated
by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With
main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore,
Calif., Sandia has major research and development
responsibilities in national security, energy,
and environmental technologies. For more information,
contact our web site at http:www.sandia.gov
Media Contacts: Dick Calandrella, 508-467-2261
Jim Finlaw, 281-514-6137
Heather Kowalski, 240-453-3343
Howard Kercheval, 505-844-7842
Jeff Sherwood, 202-586-5806
Number: PR-01-022
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