Firas Khatib was one of the biologists who tapped into the science discovery skills of Foldit game players.
Gamers helped to solve the structure of a retrovirus enzyme whose configuration had stumped scientists for more than a decade. The gamers achieved their discovery by playing Foldit, an online game that allows players to collaborate and compete in predicting the structure of protein molecules.
After scientists repeatedly failed to piece together the structure of a protein-cutting enzyme from an AIDS-like virus, they called in the Foldit players. The scientists challenged the gamers to produce an accurate model of the enzyme. They did it in only three weeks.
This class of enzymes, called retroviral proteases, has a critical role in how the AIDS virus matures and proliferates. Intensive research is under way to try to find anti-AIDS drugs that can block these enzymes, but efforts were hampered by not knowing exactly what the retroviral protease molecule looks like.
"We wanted to see if human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed," said Firas Khatib of the University of Washington Department of Biochemistry. Khatib is a researcher in the protein structure lab of David Baker, professor of biochemistry.
Remarkably, the gamers generated models good enough for the researchers to refine and, within a few days, determine the enzyme’s structure. Equally amazing, surfaces on the molecule stood out as likely targets for drugs to de-active the enzyme.
"These features provide exciting opportunities for the design of retroviral drugs, including AIDS drugs," wrote the authors. The scientists and gamers are listed as co-authors.
This is the first instance that the researchers are aware of in which gamers solved a longstanding scientific problem.
Fold-it was created by computer scientists at the University of Washington Center for Game Science in collaboration with the Baker lab.
"The focus of the UW Center for Game Sciences," said director Zoran Popovic, associate professor of computer science and engineering, "is to solve hard problems in science and education that currently cannot be solved by either people or computers alone."
The solution of the virus enzyme structure, the researchers said, "indicates the power of online computer games to channel human intuition and three-dimensional pattern matching skills to solve challenging scientific problems."
Players come from all walks of life. The game taps into their 3-D spatial abilities to rotate chains of amino acids in cyberspace. New players start at the basic level, "One Small Clash," proceed to "Swing it Around" and step ahead until reaching "Rubber Band Reversal."
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