Gamers Decode AIDS Protein That Stumped Researchers For 15 Years In Just 3 Weeks (VIDEO)

You no longer need a Ph. D. to make an incredible scientific breakthrough.

A 15-year-old AIDS problem was recently solved in just three weeks using a new online game site that allows users to contribute in decoding complex proteins. Fold.it users incredibly modeled the enzyme, Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV) retroviral protease, in a manner that matched crystalline structures observed by scientists.

Simply put, Fold.it allows users to predict the shape of a protein and map it, using a game-like structure. The better the model, the more points you get.

In this case, however, scientists experimented with giving users three weeks to create a model of a protein that scientists haven't been able to model on the molecular level themselves. At the end of the three-week period, scientists compared the best models to x-ray crystallography of the protein. They discovered that at least one group of players had determined the correct structure for it, according to the Fold.it. blog.

The findings were published in structural and molecular biology section of the Sept. 18 version of the journal Nature. Fold.it has gained over 236,000 players since it started in 2008.

Amazingly, according to PC Magazine, few of the players involved had any background in biochemistry at all.

Fold.it was developed by researchers at the University of Washington with the hopes of bringing a human element back to the modeling process. "People have spatial reasoning skills, something computers are not yet good at," Seth Cooper, Fold.it's lead developer, said in a news release according to MSNBC. "Games provide a framework for bringing together the strengths of computers and humans."

However, the protein revelation is just one small part of the AIDS puzzle. It appears in the monkey version of AIDS, and plays a key role in the multiplication of the virus. With an accurate model of this protein, drugs can be created that could potentially help stymie the multiplication of the virus in humans.

UPDATE: While the open time frame for creating the structure online was 3 weeks, according to MSNBC the correct answer was found in just 10 days.

WATCH the report from MSNBC:

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Comments

[Gretchen Newcomb]

05:18 PM on 11/11/2011

Cool! Now when I show this to Phineas, he is going to really be excited!

[Protein Shake]

01:29 AM on 11/04/2011

This is simply brilliant. Wonder if there are any complex problems that crowdsourcing can't solve!

-Jay
http://www.proteinshake.biz/

[aletat7]

11:14 AM on 09/23/2011

I think this is great! It's nice to see some good news for a change.

[Trittydi]

01:23 AM on 09/23/2011

Exceedingly cool. My son designs video games and he has told me that gaming will change the world in surprising ways and has given us examples. This is another example that illustrates what he was discussing with us.
*

[MaryfromIL]

01:42 AM on 09/22/2011

We ought to put gamers to work solving the need for world peace. Might take them a month

[davewill]

06:25 PM on 09/21/2011

So, if you shoot an infinite number of monkey in front of their typewriters and you'll really will eventually kill Shakespeare?

[Carmen DA]

05:28 PM on 09/21/2011

Most people aren't given enough credit. Most people are incredibly intelligent but we now, as a society, lack social skills to build meaningful relationships that focus on reward and encouragement and sharing. That is unfortunate that we stick our faces in screens all day and ignore eachother. Then others are judged by their circumstances rather than ability.

[mass maritimer]

06:31 PM on 09/21/2011

you comment made me think as much as the article itself....happy to be your first fan

[AJ in ATL]

02:46 PM on 09/21/2011

Love it, now time to go frag someone in CoDMW3.

[PostModernGuy]

01:17 PM on 09/21/2011

Curiously, this was a major plot point of the sci-fi classic "Permutation City" by Greg Egan. Funny how life sometimes does imitate art.

[Comeplayinmyreality]

11:29 AM on 09/21/2011

and they say Gamers dont amount to much

[TheCycad]

11:07 AM on 09/21/2011

Awesome

[Kyle Noe]

04:36 AM on 09/21/2011

Reminds me of folding@home, which is a project that uses idle time on computers and GPUs in gaming systems (like the PS3) to try to figure out how to model the folding of proteins. Of course, you don't interact with it, you just pay the electric bill for the intensive computation required when running the application.

[Just Don]

12:52 AM on 09/21/2011

http://fold.it/portal/user/register -- Try it. It's actually kind of fun, and definitely game-like. Most of the posts I see in HP articles are by people I'd bet would enjoy it.

[patrickbgawne]

11:55 PM on 09/20/2011

I am not surprised. Just last week my team conquered the Golgafrimchins and secured the seven galaxies for posterity.

[manroj1]

10:34 PM on 09/20/2011

That's OK folks. We all will die one of these days. If AIDS or cancer or heart disease or stroke or COPD or renal failure don' git ya, sumpin' else will! Just sayin'.

[Comeplayinmyreality]

11:30 AM on 09/21/2011

if it not the the disease but then the meds we take.