Gamers Crack Structure of AIDS-Related Protein. Yeah Man, We Good.
Give it up to us gamers! Granted, a term that is so encompassing across different social and cultural strata that to say “gamers solved it” could mean god knows what anymore. Still though. “We!”, yeah I’m including myself, we solved something pretty fucking fascinating.
Joystiq:
Doing something as simple as playing a computer game called Foldit, gamers have helped to unlock the secrets of a protein-cutting enzyme from a virus that resembles AIDS. Though that may not mean much to you, it’s a breakthrough that could have real repercussions for those researching AIDS and cancer treatment.
The specifics are … complicated, but, in short, players of Foldit work together to fill in the parts of research that computers struggle with: namely, spatial reasoning. (Sort of like Folding@Home, only this requires your brainpower rather than unused PS3 horsepower.) This newest collaborative breakthrough is being published in research journal Nature: Structural & Molecular Biology.
If you want the specifics, which frankly melt my brain, read them at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.