Dungeons and Dragons: they have deciphered the structure of an enzyme
of an AIDS-like virus that had thwarted scientists for a decade.
The exploit is published on Sunday in the journal Nature Structural &
Molecular Biology, where -- exceptionally in scientific publishing --
both gamers and researchers are honoured as co-authors.
Their target was a monomeric protease enzyme, a cutting agent in the
complex molecular tailoring of retroviruses, a family that includes HIV.
Figuring out the structure of proteins is vital for understanding the
causes of many diseases and developing drugs to block them.
But a microscope gives only a flat image of what to the outsider looks
like a plate of one-dimensional scrunched-up spaghetti.
Pharmacologists, though, need a 3-D picture that "unfolds" the
molecule and rotates it in order to reveal potential targets for drugs.
This is where Foldit comes in.
Developed in 2008 by the University of Washington, it is a fun-for-
purpose video game in which gamers, divided into competing groups,
compete to unfold chains of amino acids -- the building blocks of
proteins -- using a set of online tools.
To the astonishment of the scientists, the gamers produced an accurate
model of the enzyme in just three weeks.
Cracking the enzyme "provides new insights for the design of
antiretroviral drugs," says the study, referring to the lifeline
medication against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
It is believed to be the first time that gamers have resolved a long-
standing scientific problem.
"We wanted to see if human intuition could succeed where automated
methods had failed," Firas Khatib of the university's biochemistry lab
said in a press release. "The ingenuity of game players is a
formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a
wide range of scientific problems."
One of Foldit's creators, Seth Cooper, explained why gamers had
succeeded where computers had failed.
"People have spatial reasoning skills, something computers are not yet
good at," he said.
"Games provide a framework for bringing together the strengths of
computers and humans. The results in this week's paper show that
gaming, science and computation can be combined to make advances that
were not possible before."
Really thinking outside the box!
Jean Harrison
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