<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Dante-Gabryell Monson</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dante.monson@gmail.com">dante.monson@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
Date: Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 6:29 PM<br>Subject: On-line gamers succeed where scientists fail - predicting the structure of protein molecules<br>To: <a href="mailto:econowmix@googlegroups.com">econowmix@googlegroups.com</a><br>
<br><br><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p><a href="http://www.kurzweilai.net/on-line-gamers-succeed-where-scientists-fail-opening-door-to-new-aids-drug-design" target="_blank">http://www.kurzweilai.net/on-line-gamers-succeed-where-scientists-fail-opening-door-to-new-aids-drug-design</a></p>
<p>Online gamers have solved the structure of a retrovirus enzyme whose configuration had stymied scientists, biochemist Firas Khatib of the�<a href="http://www.washington.edu/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204);" target="_blank">University of Washington</a>�(UW)�<a href="http://nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121680&org=NSF&from=news" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204);" target="_blank">reports</a>.</p>
<p>The players were adept at a computer game, Foldit, that allows players to collaborate and compete in predicting the structure of protein molecules.</p></span><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>
From: <b class="gmail_sendername">R</b><br>Date: Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 10:07 PM<br>Subject: On-line gamers succeed where scientists fail, opening door to new AIDS drug design<br>To:�<br><br><br><p><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); line-height: 18px;"><a rel="attachment wp-att-128884" href="http://www.kurzweilai.net/on-line-gamers-succeed-where-scientists-fail-opening-door-to-new-aids-drug-design/fold-it" style="color: rgb(117, 162, 217); text-decoration: underline; display: block;" target="_blank"><img title="Fold-It" src="http://www.kurzweilai.net/images/Fold-It.jpg" alt="Fold It" style="border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px;" height="139" width="251"></a></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 5px 2px 0px; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); text-align: left;">
The "unsolved monkey virus protein" Foldit puzzle, highlighting the tool used by online gamers (credit: University of Washington)</p><p></p>
<p>Online gamers have solved the structure of a retrovirus enzyme whose configuration had stymied scientists, biochemist Firas Khatib of the <a href="http://www.washington.edu/" target="_blank">University of Washington</a> (UW)�<a href="http://nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121680&org=NSF&from=news" target="_blank">reports</a>.</p>
<p>The players were adept at a computer game, Foldit, that allows players to collaborate and compete in predicting the structure of protein molecules.</p>
<p>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 and�challenged them to produce an accurate model of the enzyme.</p>
<p>Remarkably, the gamers generated models good enough for the researchers to refine and determine the enzyme�s structure within a few days.�Equally amazing, surfaces on the molecule stood out as likely targets for drugs to deactivate the enzyme.</p>
<p>This class of enzymes, called retroviral proteases, has a critical role in how the AIDS virus matures and proliferates.�Intensive research is underway 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 looked like.</p>
<p>�These features provide exciting opportunities for the design of retroviral drugs, including AIDS drugs,� write Khatib and co-authors (including the gamers) of a paper appearing yesterday in the journal�<b>Nature Structural & Molecular Biology</b>.</p>
<p>�Online gamers have solved a longstanding scientific problem, perhaps leading the way to new anti-viral drugs,� said Carter Kimsey, program director in the National Science Foundation�s (NSF) Division of Biological Infrastructure, which funded the research.</p>
<p>Fold-it was created by computer scientists and biochemists at the UW Center for Game Science, and by paper co-author biochemist David�Baker�of UW, to engage the general public in scientific discovery.</p>
<p>The solution of the virus enzyme structure, the scientists�said, indicates the power of online computer games to channel human intuition and of three-dimensional pattern-matching skills to solve challenging scientific problems.�The online protein folding game captivates thousands of avid players worldwide.</p>
<p>Direct manipulation tools, as well as assistance from a computer program called Rosetta, encourage participants to configure graphics into a workable protein model.�Teams send in their answers, and UW researchers constantly improve the design of the game and its puzzles by analyzing the players� problem-solving strategies.</p>
<p>Figuring out the shape and misshape of proteins contributes to research on causes of and cures for cancer, Alzheimer�s, immune deficiencies, and a host of other disorders, as well as to environmental work on biofuels.</p>
<p>Games like Foldit are evolving. To piece together the retrovirus enzyme structure, Cooper said, Foldit used a new alignment tool for the first time to copy parts of known molecules and test their fit in an incomplete model.</p>
<p>�The ingenuity of game players,� the paper concludes, �is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems.�</p>
<p>Ref.: Firas Khatib, et al., Crystal structure of a monomeric retroviral protease solved by protein folding game players, <b>Nature Structural and Molecular Biology</b>, 2011; <a href="http://www.nature.com/nsmb/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nsmb.2119.html" target="_blank">[DOI:10.1038/nsmb.2119</a>]</p>
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