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An online group of gamers has correctly deduced the structure of an enzyme that AIDS-like viruses use for reproduction. By playing the online-game Foldit, the group figured out the structure of an important viral protein that has baffled scientists for more than a decade.
The enzyme is a retroviral protease and plays a critical role in how the AIDS virus matures and proliferates. Gamers, who weren’t experts in viruses, solved the puzzle in just three weeks.
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Gamers Solve Stubborn Viral Mystery: The Shape Of A Key Enzyme : Shots - Health Blog : NPR
Absolutely fascinating. I’ve believed that gaming forces you to develop problem solving skills and helps you to adopt creative, unconventional perspectives to work through challenges posed by different games, conventions, developers and genres. This is just another example of the positive benefits of gaming.
Gamers bring a different viewpoint to the table when it comes to solving scientific puzzles: freedom from scientific convention. “Humans can outperform the computers when you have to make a drastic move in order to get to the correct answer,” Khatib says.
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, the researchers say.
