Dispensary Corner 21 Sep 11
September 21, 2011
ONLINE gamers teach scientists a
thing or two.
A group of online video game
players (gamers) have accurately
mapped a 3D model of a
monomeric protease enzyme
(M-PMV), a feat which scientists
had been unable to accomplish.
The enzyme is important
because it could be used to help
develop drugs for HIV and AIDS
and researchers have been trying
for decades to unravel its 3D
shape in order to unfold and
rotate it to reveal its potential
targets for therapies.
Recently however scientists
threw down the gauntlet for
gamers to have a go, using a
computer game designed by the
University of Washington, titled
Foldit, which pits teams of
gamers against each other to
unfold chains of amino acids
using the game’s tools.
It took just three weeks for the
competitive gamers to do what
automated scientific programs
couldn’t in over ten years,
produce an accurate 3D enzyme
model.
“We wanted to see if human
intuition could succeed where
automated methods had failed,”
said Firas Khatib of the University
of Washington’s biochemistry lab.
“The ingenuity of game players
is a formidable force that, if
properly directed, can be used to
solve a wide range of scientific
problems,” Khatib added.
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