Foldit

Have your parents ever told you when you were young that you should study hard so one day you could cure cancer and become famous? This saying is common from parents who push their kids to get off their butts and make a difference in the world. Few parents actually mean their sons or daughters must become a doctor, much less cure cancer, but what if I were to tell you there is a way that anyone, not just doctors, could contribute to a cure? Well before I do, know that there is not just one cancer that needs supervision. But, whatever the number, one common thing could help cure all or them: proteins... enzymes to be exact. Enter David Baker, a biochemist at the University of

Dr. David Baker, University of Washington

A typical Foldit protein structure

Washington. Baker figured that scientists studying the three-dimensional structure of proteins had already been educated about what to do and not to do in terms of folding a protein, but like musicians that sound good because they can't read music and therefore deviate from the normal patterns, the public might actually make more progress. Thus, he created Foldit, a downloadable computer game that allows players to mess around with the structure of proteins.... IN 3D! The game uses a score system that, unlike the standard video game, never reaches a limit. You are to fold the protein as compact as possible and yet still within the rules of natural folding. This game is MUCH more difficult than the previous three games I blogged about, but the feeling you get when your score rises is more fulfilling because you know you are actually discovering something original, and not preset. My question to you is this: I have listed the top four citizen science games (involving molecular study), but can you think of any more topics that involve molecular science that could be crowd-sourced? Leave answers in the comments below.

Eyewire

It's amazing what our own brain doesn't notice about itself. How am I typing this, and why have I decided to eat a sandwich consisting of a particular cheese on particular bread? It's questions like these that Neuroscientists are trying to find an answer for. However, many of these brain scientists are finding themselves at a wall on what to do next, as their are so many nerves in the brain that its hard to map out what controls what. But, what if the entire world were to help map it? Sebastian Seung thought about this and came up with a game in which you fill in cross sections of nerve tissue to map out a 3D image of the nerve you are looking at. It's called Eyewire, and it's available online for free. Your job is to look at a cube made up of tiny cross sections of nerve tissue in the retina, specifically the J-cell and its connections, and find the colored holes. These holes represent one line of connected nerves that the computer has colored in for you. The problem is, sometimes the computer has trouble indicating where a hole continues, and where a hole ends. That's where you come in. By sifting through the multiple layers of cross sections, you must color in the areas that the computer missed, and possibly delete the areas the computer colored wrong. Once all the holes in the cube are filled in, you can submit it and check how well you matched other players who mapped that particular cube. My question to you is this: What are some reasons that not all neuroscientists agree with this form of mapping out the brain?

Phylo

Ever wonder just how closely related humans are to chimpanzees? What about the similarities between a donkey and a horse? Questions like these are still being studied to this day, by scientists yet to find the full answer. Sure, it is easy to acknowledge outside resemblances between animals, but is there more to the picture than what meets the eye, say resemblances on the inside? There sure is. Lots more. They're called genes, and they're present in every living organism on the planet. There's only one problem: genes are too small to see with the naked eye. This makes it hard for the average Joe to picture such mind-boggling similarities between Man and Primate. Enter Phylo, a browser-based game that aims to distinguish common gene sequences of 3 or more species. The player (You) must match nucleotides from one species with as many nucleotides from another species as possible, but that's not all to the challenge: all nucleotides must stay in the order they were given to you. The point is not to match EVERY nucleotide by mixing the sequence up, but to take what is actually sequenced in each specimen and slide groups of nucleotides from one organism to similar chains in other organisms. The score you get is based on the number of matches made, and the number of spaces between groups of nucleotides (the less spaces made for matching, the less room for error). It may seem like jargon at first, but really it's simplicity allows for folks of all ages to try their hand at improving science. My question to you is this: Why do you think it is beneficial for science to get help from the public instead of relying on their own intuition and computer software? Leave comments below.

We're all familiar with RNA. There's the four nucleotides: Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Uracil. Adenine always binds with Uracil and Guanine always binds with Cytosine, correct? WRONG! Actually in eteRNA, an online RNA-based puzzle game created by Rhiju Das, RNA is an ever-growing field of study, with it's complex binding sites and infinite possible sequence structures, and many of the "norms" of nucleotide bonding are thrown completely out the window. The goal of this browser-based game is to make a pre-shaped structure stable, using only certain combinations of Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Uracil. Though this seems like the solutions would be limited and easy to uncover, there is much more you must be aware of. For example, say you figure that since G-C bonds are the strongest bonds, why not make all the bonds in the structure GC bonds. Well, the fact that GC bonds ARE very strong makes synthesizing the desired structure difficult, as Gs can bind to the wrong Cs and then be unable to split apart and reattach somewhere else. Obviously there are more strategies to RNA design, but I'll leave the puzzle-solving to you. This type of science game is know as Citizen Science: a REAL scientific experiment made fun and available to all people of any background. Do you think it is wise to let those who are not familiar with RNA to contribute? Leave your comments below.