SEATTLE, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Computer users playing an online game solved the structure of a retrovirus enzyme that had stumped scientists for more than a decade, U.S. researchers said.
The gamers achieved the result playing Foldit, an online puzzle game in which players collaborate and compete in predicting the structure of protein molecules, NewScientist.com reported Monday.
Scientists, unable to figure out the structure of a protein-cutting enzyme from an AIDS-like virus, turned the conundrum over the Foldit game community.
"We wanted to see if human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed," Firas Khatib of the University of Washington biochemistry department said.
The enzyme being studied is one of a class playing a critical role in how the AIDS virus matures and proliferates. Efforts to develop drugs to block the enzymes were stymied by not knowing the enzyme's exact structure.
The Foldit players were able to generate models good enough for the researchers to refine and, within a few days, determine the enzyme's structure.
"People have spatial reasoning skills, something computers are not yet good at," said Seth Cooper of the UW Department of Computing Science and Engineering, a co-creator of Foldit. "Games provide a framework for bringing together the strengths of computers and humans."
