Biology is overtaking nuclear weapons as the field demanding the most sophisticated computers.

NuTec Sciences is using a 7.5-teraflops IBM machine — the fastest supercomputer for commercial use — for analyzing cancer patients’ individual genetic profiles to find the most effective treatments.

Other tasks, such as determining the role of proteins in promoting disease, require more powerful machines. IBM’s 1,000-teraflops Blue Gene will be used to predict protein folding. Compaq’s 100-teraflop Red Storm will be used by Celera Genomics and Los Alamos National Labs for a broader array of life-science experiments.