To the astonishment of most scientists, that is what happened. Yahoo Games reports that scientists needed to look at the amino acids that make up a protein responsible for many diseases, AIDS one of them. The amino acid order is important but the way the amino acids fold (we have spoken about this in this BLOG) is critical to understanding how to destroy it. A video game, Foldit, was created and gamers asked to find the correct fold. In just 3 weeks the gamers came up with the correct fold that matches what happens in reality.
Related articles
- Video Gamers to the Rescue (memedicine.org)
- Protein-Folding Gamers of the Day (geeks.thedailywh.at)
- ‘Foldit’ Gamers Solve AIDS Puzzle that Baffled Scientists for Decade (techland.time.com)
- Foldit Gamers Solve Science Riddles In Quest To Cure Disease (fastcompany.com)
- Fold.it Solves AIDS Puzzle (everyjoe.com)
- One Up: Gamers Help Scientists Solve Molecular Puzzle That Could Lead To AIDS Vaccine (techcrunch.com)
- Gamers, Now With More Helping Cure AIDS (geekologie.com)
- Online gamers solve HIV puzzle that stymied scientists (billhubbell.wordpress.com)
- Online gamers strike major blow in battle against AIDS (go.theregister.com)
- Gaming in Scientific Research (rhetoric114.wordpress.com)