From the National Academy of Science's decadal review, "Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s":

"Software and information technology are other areas where the footprints of astronomy have left clear marks. Grid computing is a prime example. The open source infrastructure “BOINC” developed in the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley for volunteer and grid computing was developed to search data obtained with radio telescopes for signals from extraterrestrial life (SETI@home). It has since been used in many other areas in astrophysics (LIGO (+Virgo) application of BOINC is looking for evidence of continuous, monochromatic gravitational waves from non-axisymmetric, unknown single neutron stars in the Milky Way galaxy and LIGO noise diagnostics, for example) but also in many non-astronomical contexts including medical, environmental and humanitarian research sponsored by IBM Corporate Citizenship in the non-profit “world community grid”, and even has been used for COVID-19 research"

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