Gamers Crack HIV Viral Code

[Calbeck]

http://news.yahoo.com/online-gamers-crack-aids-enzyme-puzzle-175427367.html

They might as well have called it "AIDS: The Virus-Cracking MMO".

Their target was a monomeric protease enzyme, a cutting agent in the complex molecular tailoring of retroviruses, a family that includes HIV.

Figuring out the structure of proteins is vital for understanding the causes of many diseases and developing drugs to block them.

But a microscope gives only a flat image of what to the outsider looks like a plate of one-dimensional scrunched-up spaghetti. Pharmacologists, though, need a 3-D picture that "unfolds" the molecule and rotates it in order to reveal potential targets for drugs.

This is where Foldit comes in.

Developed in 2008 by the University of Washington, it is a fun-for-purpose video game in which gamers, divided into competing groups, compete to unfold chains of amino acids -- the building blocks of proteins -- using a set of online tools.

And gamers tasked to play --- literally unfolding an extremely complex HIV-related enzyme so that new treatments for it can be researched --- achieved in three weeks what mainstream science's automated processes have been unable to do for decades.

 

[Robert Ewing]

Gaming 1. Entire world health organization. 0.

They all mad.

 

[LongAndShort]

I've got to say, fuckin' awesome that gaming is able to help people across the world.

That article still felt a little fuckin' patronizing, talking about gamers like they are a completely separate people, but then maybe I'm a little hardwired against stuff like that.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Like I said in the other thread about this, they created a model of something similar to HIV. Which is all very good and all, but they've not "cracked" HIV, it's not gamers showing up the medical industry or anything overly dramatic like that.

Let's not dismiss what they've actually accomplished in favour of exciting exagerations.

 

[Soupy George]

Next on Fox News: "Gamers create downloadable version of AIDS - We ask, "Should I burn my computer?"

 

[Jandau]

I'm honestly not that suprised. The human mind is in many ways superior to even the most powerful computers of today. And when people find ways to direct all that potential, awesome shit can happen. Gaming is a great way to motivate and direct people and this is an example of what can be achieved through such means.

 

[ajkalan]

You all should read the comments on that article - I know comments/message boards are bad for every major news web site, but Yahoo News is my absolute favorite for dragging in the dregs of the Internet to make the dumbest comments imaginable. Godspeed, Yahoo!

OT: It's always good to see the power of the human brain at work. Score one for spatial-reasoning skills.

 

[Von Strimmer]

Well done anonymous for saving the world once again... oh wait...
(Please dont hate me it was toung in cheek)
But seriously good one these boys!

 

[Calbeck]

Like I said in the other thread about this, they created a model of something similar to HIV. Which is all very good and all, but they've not "cracked" HIV

Didn't say they did. Said they cracked an HIV viral code. Which they did.

it's not gamers showing up the medical industry

Actually, it is exactly that, according to the medical industry personnel interviewed for the piece:

To the astonishment of the scientists, the gamers produced an accurate model of the enzyme in just three weeks.

"We wanted to see if human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed," Firas Khatib of the university's biochemistry lab said in a press release.

"The ingenuity of game players is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems."

 

[godofwarishere]

Lol must be kidding

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Well, once we gamers got tired of griefing each other, we decided to get together and grief disease.

Question is... how do you teabag a virus?

 

[DarkishFriend]

And they said gaming is useless. If gaming helps find out a better method to fight HIV I want Fox to nationally broadcast an apology for stereotyping gamers, nerds and geeks and villifying video games.

 

[oplinger]

Well, once we gamers got tired of griefing each other, we decided to get together and grief disease.

Question is... how do you teabag a virus?

Oh come on, you can't make an AIDS joke that easy. People teabag HIV all the time. You're really late to the party.

OT: That is pretty amazing, I'm actually genuinely impressed.

 

[Legendsmith]

"The ingenuity of game players is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems."

This implies more science games may be on the way. My response is: Do want.
More companies and researchers should tap into this.

 

[Isan]

Well, as a gamer, and thus able to speak for all gamers, I would like to say, on behalf of gamers everywhere:
You're welcome world, we gamers are a great people and you're very lucky to have us.


-.-

I get really annoyed when "gamer" is used like this.
I'll bet any money that some scientists who've worked on this problem before also play games to some degree in their spare time. Are they then gamers, or scientists? Why is this article written like they're 2 inseparable groups..

It's not about Gamers, its about using a Game to solve the problem. Big difference. It's not about the people, its about a creative approach to problem solving.