Online Gamers Crack Aids Enzyme

Interesting and here I was thinking my kids are just wasting time in online gaming

www.smh.com.au...
Online gamers have achieved a feat beyond the realm of Second Life or 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.

Advertisement: Story continues below 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 3D picture that "unfolds" the molecule and rotates it in order to reveal potential targets for drugs.

This is where Foldit comes in.
fold.it...


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."


end quote

What other feats have our online gamers come out with lately?

reply to post by Highlander64


im sure people will doubt me
but weve known the cure for aids for ages

reply to post by Highlander64

My favorite quote is:
"It is believed to be the first time that gamers have resolved a long-standing scientific problem. "

Thank you for linking this. I saved it in my favorites.

Originally posted by jonnywhite
reply to post by Highlander64

 

My favorite quote is:
"It is believed to be the first time that gamers have resolved a long-standing scientific problem. "

Thank you for linking this. I saved it in my favorites.

edit on 18-9-2011 by jonnywhite because: (no reason given)

yeah me too

thats powerful - what else can they solve?

I am hoping the online gamers (aka my kids) can help solve the crisis of dirty dishes in my kitchen and how to place their dirty laundry in the laundry instead of all over the house

this would be a huge advancement for mankind

Now all they have to do is make the meaning of life a solvable question in a Final Fantasy mini-game and Voila... Question answered!

dr.mario!!!

Wow, that's really interesting. I can understand how solving problems using gamers can be beneficial. Maybe they can start utilizing gamers to help find ways to destroy cancers and other diseases. Nice find!

reply to post by Highlander64


Can you imagine the other practical uses this can be used for? This is awesome what the collective can accomplish.

They should design a game of the human body in every detail and let the gamers have at diseases and virus and cancers!

reply to post by LDragonFire


it is quite e development when you think of it - as they say, gamers can look at problems from various angles - and I would say they are often more determined to find the key that unlocks the next level etc

harnessing that ability is the key

imagine they designed a game to keep everyone in the world from starving - or to supply fresh water etc
endless possibilities

I think this attests to the need for gamers to use these ninja fast problem solving and decision making skills for actually solving problems and making decisions. There are too many smart people wasting their potential in front of an Xbox.

Originally posted by boncho
Now all they have to do is make the meaning of life a solvable question in a Final Fantasy mini-game and Voila... Question answered!

I don't know, there for a while, Final Fantasy WAS the meaning of life for me...

On topic though, that's cool as hell. Sounds quite a bit like the plot line to the first episode of Stargate Universe. Instead, they embedded a massively complicated mathematical problem into an online game. I thought it was a great idea then, apparently others had the same idea. I think this could have merit in many other applications.

Thanks for the link, I'm going to keep my eye on this subject and see how it unfolds. (no pun intended)

reply to post by Highlander64


WELL DUH!!! of course we solved the problem! Gamers can do anything, We even have girlfriends now AND we converted them into gamers, real girls! they do nasty bedroom stuff and everything, it's awesome.

Obviously I'm single.

Originally posted by Highlander64

Originally posted by jonnywhite
reply to post by Highlander64

 

My favorite quote is:
"It is believed to be the first time that gamers have resolved a long-standing scientific problem. "

Thank you for linking this. I saved it in my favorites.

edit on 18-9-2011 by jonnywhite because: (no reason given)

yeah me too

thats powerful - what else can they solve?

I am hoping the online gamers (aka my kids) can help solve the crisis of dirty dishes in my kitchen and how to place their dirty laundry in the laundry instead of all over the house

this would be a huge advancement for mankind

edit on 18-9-2011 by Highlander64 because: (no reason given)

OMG, I know right. My niece won't clean the dishes, like put them in the dishwasher. That's it. Not wash them by hand. She won't do her laundry, like put them in her basket. Her room is a disaster and all she does it lets it pile up. Can't even see her room anymore. I told her to clean her room and get the paper off the floor, she tells me "No, their collectables".

Just once, it would be nice for her not to give me a hard time to clean her room. Ugh, I hate a messy house. Drives me nuts.

excellent stuff...

its amazing how the internet has allowed us 'normal folk' to use our collective to solve the worlds problems..

even ats is a good example.. ive seen many mysteries solved here even when credited scientists have no explanation..

Originally posted by boncho
Now all they have to do is make the meaning of life a solvable question in a Final Fantasy mini-game and Voila... Question answered!

They already have, kinda. It´s called Planescape: Torment.

Very deep and philosophical game, at the end you will definitely understand alot of things about life, what can change the nature of a man, etc.

Originally posted by UniverSoul
reply to post by Highlander64

 

im sure people will doubt me
but weve known the cure for aids for ages

People will doubt you because your talking out of your (censored).

There's something I like to call proof that should back up your claims...

I am not talking about YouTube videos..blogs..conspiracy websites...I am talking actual data, scientific and such...

reply to post by kerazeesicko

its called survival of the smartest

maybe they should design a game that models a balanced budget and turn em loose on that baby.

Cool story though

reply to post by UniverSoul

I don't doubt you. The AIDS retrovirus, like the other retroviruses which cause many of the autoimmune diseases we now suffer from (and I include myself in that group, having suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since 1999), is actually a creature of the United States Army, Patent #5242820.

I'm sure they need help in deciphering this unholy creature, but the fact remains that this was cooked up in a lab paid for with our tax dollars, and not some weird mutation from a monkey to a human that just "happened".

Originally posted by FissionSurplus
reply to post by UniverSoul

 

I don't doubt you. The AIDS retrovirus, like the other retroviruses which cause many of the autoimmune diseases we now suffer from (and I include myself in that group, having suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since 1999), is actually a creature of the United States Army, Patent #5242820.

I'm sure they need help in deciphering this unholy creature, but the fact remains that this was cooked up in a lab paid for with our tax dollars, and not some weird mutation from a monkey to a human that just "happened".

exactly.
i know your pain. im very young but have early arthritis, try not to let it stop me tho but i know the pain will get worse
well who knows their purpose. all i know is that they wont tell us the cure so you would assume their intentions are bad