[FRIAM] Solve Puzzles for Science | Fold It!

[Günther Greindl]

Related to the article I sent before, here's a game where you can 
actually play and aid science:

http://fold.it/portal/adobe_main/

 From the website:

What other good stuff am I contributing to by playing?

Proteins are found in all living things, including plants. Certain types 
of plants are grown and converted to biofuel, but the conversion process 
is not as fast and efficient as it could be. A critical step in turning 
plants into fuel is breaking down the plant material, which is currently 
done by microbial enzymes (proteins) called "cellulases". Perhaps we can 
find new proteins to do it better.

Can humans really help computers fold proteins?

We’re collecting data to find out if humans' pattern-recognition and 
puzzle-solving abilities make them more efficient than existing computer 
programs at pattern-folding tasks. If this turns out to be true, we can 
then teach human strategies to computers and fold proteins faster than ever!



Cheers,
Günther