A hardware accelerator initially developed for artificial intelligence operations has successfully sped up the alignment of protein and DNA molecules, making the process up to 10 times faster than state-of-the-art methods. This breakthrough can significantly improve the efficiency of aligning protein sequences and DNA for genome assembly, a critical task in computational biology.
In the past, scientists have utilized graphics processing units (GPUs) to speed up sequence alignment. However, the development of IPUs for AI applications prompted researchers to explore their potential in tackling this problem. IPUs offer substantial on-device bandwidth for data transfer and can handle uneven and unpredictable workloads, making them ideal for addressing the irregular computation patterns of algorithms like X-Drop.
When the research team used the IPU to assemble sequences from model organisms, they achieved a remarkable 10-times faster performance compared to GPUs. The IPU’s ability to handle irregular computation patterns, which GPUs struggle with, proved crucial in accelerating genome assembly. This breakthrough has the potential to revolutionize computational biology and empower scientists with the computational power needed to solve complex problems.
As the need for large-scale computation continues to grow across various scientific domains, hardware accelerators like IPUs are becoming increasingly essential. The ability to process vast amounts of data efficiently is crucial in the era of data-driven research and discovery.
By harnessing the power of AI hardware accelerators, researchers like Giulia Guidi, assistant professor of computer science at Cornell University, are pushing the boundaries of computational biology and paving the way for new discoveries in genomics and beyond.
