(Image source: Foldit/CBC News)
BY TRACY PFEIFFER
ANCHOR LAUREN GORES
You're watching multisource health news analysis from Newsy.
Video game lovers don’t have the best rep when it comes to productivity levels.
But after a group of gamers solved a problem stumping scientists and computers for 15 years, that might be a stereotype of the past.
FEMALE ANCHOR, WAGA: “In 2008, the University of Washington developed a video game where gamers competed to try to unfold chains of amino acids.”
MALE ANCHOR, WAGA: “In just three weeks, the gamers produced an accurate model of the protein enzyme that is vital to the HIV virus. University scientists say cracking the enzyme provides new insights with the design of anti-viral drugs.”
Gamers were playing through a website called Foldit, which invites players to solve the structures of complex three-dimensional proteins. ABC Australia spoke to Foldit’s lead developer.
SETH COOPER: “Basically, the way that players play the game is by directly manipulating the protein structure, so there’s a visualization that shows them the structure of the protein as it’s being folded currently, where the atoms are, that kind of thing. We also added some visualizations that sort of draw players’ attention to sort of areas where they can make improvements, such as where there’s empty space in the protein.” (Video: MSNBC)
The gamer who put the finishing touch on the protein - identified only as ‘mimi’ - tells MSNBC more about what drives users to the game.
"The game is not only an interesting intellectual challenge, allowing you to use your problem-solving skills, 'feel' for protein shapes, and whatever biochemical knowledge you have to obtain a solution to each puzzle, but it also provides a unique society of players driven by both individual and team rivalry with an overall purpose of improving the game and the results achieved.”
Reports say scientists had thrown the problem to as many computers as they could find, but still came up short. So how did gamers prevail where machines did not? A writer for NPR says it’s about the humanity.
“Sometimes to get to the right answer, a drastic or seemingly illogical decision has to be made. But a computer trying to solve a problem won't make an illogical decision that leads it down the wrong path because it can't always see that far ahead.”
Researchers hope the idea of crowd-sourcing scientific puzzles takes off in other forms.
But a writer for Gawker jokes, let’s not take this partnership too far.
“Now the scientists want to see if Foldit users can work on other disease-related problems, develop drugs, create biofuels—basically do their work for them. Then they can sit around their bedrooms playing video games all day long, drinking Mountain Dew out of two-liter bottles and wearing nerdy black t-shirts over their scientist robes, and get smart again.”
Researchers say many of the gamers who helped crack this code have no background in biology.
Transcript by Newsy
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