Name
Abstract | ||
|---|---|---|
People exert large amounts of problem-solving effort playing computer games. Simple image-and text-recognition tasks have been successfully 'crowd-sourced' through games(1-3), but it is not clear if more complex scientific problems can be solved with human-directed computing. Protein structure prediction is one such problem: locating the biologically relevant native conformation of a protein is a formidable computational challenge given the very large size of the search space. Here we describe Foldit, a multiplayer online game that engages non-scientists in solving hard prediction problems. Foldit players interact with protein structures using direct manipulation tools and user-friendly versions of algorithms from the Rosetta structure prediction methodology(4), while they compete and collaborate to optimize the computed energy. We show that top-ranked Foldit players excel at solving challenging structure refinement problems in which substantial backbone rearrangements are necessary to achieve the burial of hydrophobic residues. Players working collaboratively develop a rich assortment of new strategies and algorithms; unlike computational approaches, they explore not only the conformational space but also the space of possible search strategies. The integration of human visual problem-solving and strategy development capabilities with traditional computational algorithms through interactive multiplayer games is a powerful new approach to solving computationally-limited scientific problems. |
Year | DOI | Venue |
|---|---|---|
2010 | 10.1038/nature09304 | NATURE |
Keywords | Field | DocType |
Biochemistry, Computing science, Structural biology | Biology,Cooperative behavior,Artificial intelligence,Bioinformatics,Multiplayer game,Computer graphics,Protein structure,Complex problems,The Internet | Journal |
Volume | Issue | ISSN |
466 | 7307 | 0028-0836 |
Citations | PageRank | References |
290 | 20.57 | 3 |
Authors | ||
10 | ||
Name | Order | Citations | PageRank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seth Cooper | 1 | 745 | 58.65 |
| Firas Khatib | 2 | 428 | 32.00 |
| Adrien Treuille | 3 | 1124 | 58.34 |
| Janos Barbero | 4 | 327 | 24.70 |
| Jeehyung Lee | 5 | 290 | 20.57 |
| Michael Beenen | 6 | 315 | 22.18 |
| Andrew Leaver-Fay | 7 | 374 | 28.70 |
| David Baker | 8 | 345 | 28.83 |
| Zoran Popović | 9 | 4353 | 279.05 |
| Foldit Players | 10 | 379 | 26.81 |