HIV and AIDS are no longer an immediate death sentence. Treating these illnesses, however, has not changed since 1996. Researchers have been trying to figure out how the proteins of this family of infections work together. Now, in three weeks, a group of gamers untangled an AIDS-like virus that researchers have been puzzling over for a decade.


The Foldit Phenomenon



There is a crowd-sourced game called Foldit that was produced in 2008. A group from the University of Washington believed up the idea. There are issues being fixed by thousands of players. This is done through scientific puzzles. For a lot of issues, computing isn’t enough to address it. This is because computers can’t untangle proteins and enzymes as they aren’t following logical progressions all the time. These puzzles are put into computer games so winners of difficulties can get points.



MRP worked out by Foldit



The monomeric retro-viral protease is an AIDS-like disease with enzymes that have proven a mystery. Researchers have identified the enzymes in the virus, but seeing it flat on a slide has not provided enough information to identify how to design narcotics to fight the disease. Figuring out how the protein is tangled is the significant thing for scientists. Scientists worked for years to figure out the answer. The challenge was put on Foldit after that. It only took three weeks to build the protein. This was done by Foldit Contenders Group and Void Crushers Group. This will help scientists create drugs to help the illness. Everyone who has an HIV-related illness will be able to get well much faster.



The help gaming gives



Turning problems into games is an idea that several people like. It works for any challenge, whether or not it is severe. There are several obsessed players that are focused, dedicated and goal-oriented. By using those traits to make the world a better place, several games are "outsourcing" the grunt work of science that is too complex for computing and too time-consuming for a few individuals to work on. This is the second major breakthrough Foldit has produced.



Citations



RawStory:

Wired:



Nature Structural & Molecular Biology:



Foldit:

I truly believe that kids that grew up playing videogames have developed and trained sophisticated strategies for thinking out solutions for problems and also social strategies (a lot of these internet games involve working together)

I have high expectations of that generation.