Fold Proteins, Help Cure Diseases in Foldit Video Game - PCWorld. Leave it to video gamers to find a better way to shepherd proteins into their optimal three-dimensional shapes.
Plying a freely available game and matched against automated computer routines designed to ascertain how amino acids twist into their ideal shapes, science journal Nature reports video gamers took top marks, folding proteins better than a computer. The game, called Foldit (or Fold.it) comprises two-years of biochemistry and computer science at the University of Washington. Its goal was simple: Come up with a better, quicker way to fold proteins by harnessing the brainpower of video gamers. "People in the scientific community have known about Foldit for a while, and everybody thought it was a great idea," wrote UW associate computer science and engineer professor Zoran Popovic in a press statement. "But the really fundamental question in most scientists' minds was 'What can it produce in terms of results? Smarter Planet. ICI - International Center for Innovation.