Adrien Treuille, an assistant professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, creates online challenges that tap gamers to solve complex scientific problems. Players of Foldit, an Internet video game he co-developed as a biochemistry postdoc at the University of Washington, recently solved in under three weeks a protein-folding problem that had stumped scientists for more than a decade. Knowing how a polypeptide folds into a three-dimensional protein structure is key to identifying its role in disease and targeting drugs. By determining the structure of a protein that replicates an AIDS-like virus found in monkeys, the Foldit players provided new insights for the design of antiretroviral drugs.
Another game, EteRNA, developed by Treuille’s graduate student Jeehyung Lee and introduced in early 2010, invites gamers to cross over from the virtual world to reality. Their best new designs for ribonucleic acids (RNAs)—molecules fundamental to life—are tested in a Stanford lab. The endgame? The first large-scale library of synthetic RNAs, which are expected to lead to new ways to control living cells and cure diseases. Techonomy contributor Adrienne Burke spoke with Treuille during the recent PopTech conference in Camden, Maine.
Read the interview by Adrienne Burke on Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/techonomy/2011/10/27/games-that-solve-real-problems-crowdsourcing-biochemistry/#6a1b699c1199