Who made Foldit?
Seth Cooper
Seth Cooper is the lead designer of Foldit, and one of the original creators of the game. He is currently the creative director for the Center for Game Science at the University of Washington. In a recent Science Observer, American Scientist associate editor Katie Burke discussed Foldit and other citizen science games.
What is Foldit and why is it important?
Foldit attempts to predict the structure of a protein by taking advantage of humans’ puzzle-solving intuitions and having people play competitively to fold the best proteins. Protein design: Since proteins are part of so many diseases, they can also be part of the cure.
How do you pack protein in Foldit?
Pack the protein The smaller the protein, the better. More precisely, you want to avoid empty spaces (voids) in the structure of the protein where water molecules can get inside. So you want the atoms in the protein to be as close together as possible.
What are clashes in Foldit?
In Foldit, when two atoms are too close, they clash. If the “Show clashes” view option is set, clashes are represented by a spiky red ball. Clashes push the protein apart when you wiggle it. (Specifically, the “wiggle backone” version of the tool tends to push the protein apart.)
How does energy relate to foldit?
In Foldit terms, the lower the free energy, the higher the score. Free energy makes a protein less stable. So a major goal in Foldit is to minimize free energy, making the protein more stable and increasing the score in Foldit.
How does energy relate to Foldit?
What do Orange residues indicate in Foldit?
If you’ve already fixed the helix, you’ll see one segment highlighted in green, meaning it’s on the border between the core and the surface. The goal is to make segments turn orange, meaning they’re in the core.
How are players of the fold it and Eterna games helping scientists?
Earlier this month, for example, Foldit players helped solve a puzzle about proteins that could further research into HIV/AIDS. Their work was co-published in the journal Nature. Adrien Treuille designs video games that help players solve scientific puzzles.
How does protein fold?
Folded proteins are held together by various molecular interactions. During translation, each protein is synthesized as a linear chain of amino acids or a random coil which does not have a stable 3D structure. The amino acids in the chain eventually interact with each other to form a well-defined, folded protein.
How does the point system in Foldit relate to the free energy of the native structure?
In Foldit terms, the lower the free energy, the higher the score. Free energy makes a protein less stable. So a major goal in Foldit is to minimize free energy, making the protein more stable and increasing the score in Foldit. Problems like clashes, voids, and exposeds all contribute to free energy.
What is the building block of protein?
amino acids
The building blocks of proteins are amino acids, which are small organic molecules that consist of an alpha (central) carbon atom linked to an amino group, a carboxyl group, a hydrogen atom, and a variable component called a side chain (see below).
Who created EteRNA?
Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Carnegie Mellon University developed EteRNA.
What are the four levels of protein folding?
Proteins fold into stable three‐dimensional shapes, or conformations, that are determined by their amino acid sequence. The complete structure of a protein can be described at four different levels of complexity: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure.