Solve Puzzles For Science
Do you enjoy video games? Sure, we all do. But don’t you wish you could contribute to society as a whole while you’re playing those time-killers? Well now you can. With fold.it you can contribute to important scientific research in protein folding.
What Is Protein Folding?
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Protein folding is the process in which a polypeptide, or amino-acid chain, folds itself into a functional 3-dimensional structure. A straight chain of amino acids can’t really do all that much. But if that chain is collapsed in upon itself, it becomes a functional protein. Studying protein folding could help us better understand certain diseases and eventually create possible cures.
Fold.It
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A great deal of study already goes on trying to find out the precise way an amino acid folds itself into a protein. There are a number of projects that use idle CPU time on personal computers to work through millions of different folding possibilities. While that is an important part of the research, the folks at Fold.It believe a more intuitive approach would be more beneficial.
The human mind is already designed to tackle 3-dimensional problem solving. Which is exactly what protein folding is. So they’ve turned folding into an online game. You are given a 3-dimensional representation of a protein that has been improperly folded. By twisting and turning the chain into different color coded shapes you slowly work your way to a functional protein.
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Like a 21st Century version of the Rubix Cube, Fold.It is surprisingly addictive. You check out more about the game, and register for a free account at Fold.It
May 21, 2008 - 3:47 pm MDT at 3:47 pm
Downloading now, very cool!