Foldit gamers improve protein design through crowdsourcing
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - 08:01
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- Gamers on Foldit have succeeded in improving the catalyst abilities of an enzyme, making it 18-fold more active than the original version. The idea is the brainchild of University of Washington scientist Zoran Popovic who is director of the Center for Game Science, and biochemist David Baker. Together they have created the Foldit site which is a video game application that allows players to work with protein design, rather than shooting virtual aliens. By giving players a basic concept to work with and a box of tools, the team has created a means for crowd sourcing protein design. Those that come up with the most efficient way to fold an enzyme get the most points.