Protein Videogame
Biologists Enlist Online Gamers
Players of a new game will design HIV vaccines and other proteins.
By Katherine Bourzac
Proteins are the workhorses of biology. Among their many functions, proteins speed chemical reactions, enable blood cells to recognize intruding viruses, and copy DNA. The potential payoffs of making proteins that don't exist in nature, such as those needed for HIV vaccines or as catalysts for more-efficient biofuel production, are huge. But making proteins to meet a specific need can be difficult.
Now a leading protein researcher has teamed up with computer scientists to create an online game for developing useful protein structures. David Baker, a leading protein scientist at the University of Washington, says that players will help his lab design new vaccines and make enzymes for repairing DNA in diseased tissues.
For years, biochemists have reengineered naturally occurring proteins by growing them in viruses and single-celled organisms in a process......
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