http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14986013
I thought this was pretty interesting. Apparently an online game 'Foldit'.... actually just read the article, it explains it far better than I could.
Short version: "The game, called Foldit, allows players to create new shapes of proteins by randomly folding digital molecules on their computer screens". This could help find anti-AIDS drugs in the future. Fun stuff.
Interesting Quotes from the article if your too lazy:
"Scientists write that they have been puzzled by the protein's structure for over a decade. But it took the online community just a few days to produce the enzyme's model."
"Biochemist Firas Khatib of the University of Washington - where Foldit was created in 2008 - said that the goal was to see if "human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed".
"Players can design brand new proteins that could help prevent or treat important diseases."
"Seth Cooper, a co-creator of Foldit and its lead designer, said that games provide a framework "for bringing together the strengths of computers and humans".
"These results show that gaming, science and computation can be combined to make advances that were not possible before."
I think there might be a fair few gamers working at the BBC.
I thought this was pretty interesting. Apparently an online game 'Foldit'.... actually just read the article, it explains it far better than I could.
Short version: "The game, called Foldit, allows players to create new shapes of proteins by randomly folding digital molecules on their computer screens". This could help find anti-AIDS drugs in the future. Fun stuff.
Interesting Quotes from the article if your too lazy:
"Scientists write that they have been puzzled by the protein's structure for over a decade. But it took the online community just a few days to produce the enzyme's model."
"Biochemist Firas Khatib of the University of Washington - where Foldit was created in 2008 - said that the goal was to see if "human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed".
"Players can design brand new proteins that could help prevent or treat important diseases."
"Seth Cooper, a co-creator of Foldit and its lead designer, said that games provide a framework "for bringing together the strengths of computers and humans".
"These results show that gaming, science and computation can be combined to make advances that were not possible before."
I think there might be a fair few gamers working at the BBC.