LIFE SCIENCES

A research team at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies and Heidelberg University is using the power of high-performance computing (HPC) to better understand how collagen—the most common protein in our body—transports shock and other forces toward its weakest molecular links, giving researchers deeper insight into understanding how collagen in tendons absorbs stress and how this can prevent larger injuries. Using SuperMUC-NG at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, the team identified how collagen forms so-called radicals, which are very reactive and can damage the material. The team then charted where these radicals are formed, at defined weak spots within collagen nearby radical sponges that help to control them. The team’s research has implications for designing new diagnostic and therapeutic pathways at the molecular scale. The team published its results in Nature Communications.