Foldit A computer game that helps scientific research

Foldit A computer game that helps scientific research Wei Bao 2011 11 30

Rosetta @ Home Protein Structure prediction Protein docking Protein design Alzheimer’s Disease Antrax Herpes simplex virus 1 HIV Malaria 1

Powerful, But Never Enough!!! *From Wiki 2

Foldit • In 2008, the Foldit project submitted solutions to the Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction (CASP) contest. The results were announced in early 2009. • In 2011, players of Foldit helped to decipher the crystal structure of the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV) retroviral protease, an AIDS-causing monkey virus. While the puzzle was available to play for a period of three weeks, players produced an accurate 3 D model of the enzyme in just ten days. The problem of how to configure the structure of the enzyme had stumped scientists for 15 years. * * From Wiki Website 3

How Does It Work • Just like playing other games. 4

Scoring system • • • Hydrophobicity Interatomic repulsion Cavities • To get a lower energy conformation/ Rosetta energy 5

You do not need to be professional A survey did among top 50 players 6

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Foldit Vs. Rosetta VS 9

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Beats 13

Foldit Wins for now 1. Distinguish starting point 2. More varied methods 3. Motivation ( competition) 14

Games for Christmas 15