By downloading an app and donating some of your wi-fi or data plan, your phone can help find a cure for cancer.

The DreamLab app uses the computing power of your smartphone to solve small problems, which feed into research being done into breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers.

Scientists say that if 1,000 people use the app, they could crunch data 30 times faster than their current rate.

It is only available on Android, but an iPhone version is in the works.

DreamLab gives us free access to a dedicated virtual supercomputer to accelerate our cancer research Dr Warren Kaplan Garvan Institute of Medical Research

Promoters of the scheme say millions of smartphones become "idle" at night, when people are asleep, making this the ideal time for their processing power to be harnessed.

Although the project has been launched in Australia, by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, anyone around the world can download the app.

Users can choose whether to use their mobile network or wi-fi to power the research, meaning those on limited data plans can still take part.

The app will also pause when a user gets to their data plan limit, to stop people from accidentally running up a big bill.

"There are many important research questions we'd like to ask, but some need so much computing power that it would cost too much, or take us years and years," says Dr Warren Kaplan of the Garvan Institute.

"DreamLab gives us free access to a dedicated virtual supercomputer to accelerate our cancer research, giving more hope to patients and their families."

Citizen science is not a new phenomenon. Many research institutes, often struggling for funding, ask for volunteers to help further their studies.

Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), which relies on public donations, has previously called on computer users to help search for signs of unusual activity in space.

Other projects currently looking for volunteers include examining images on the surface of Mars and photographing wild orchids so the Natural History Museum can better understand climate change.

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