WHO says computer games are a waste of time? Players of the online game have managed to devise ways of folding proteins that had eluded both experts and protein analysis software.
Foldit presents players with proteins whose amino acids they can manipulate to alter the protein’s shape. The goal is to find the lowest-energy configuration, which is the shape that the protein would naturally adopt (Nature, ).
The game, developed by and colleagues at the University of Washington in Seattle, isn’t just an intellectual challenge. It could also help in the design of proteins…
