Table of Contents
When was Foldit made?
May 8, 2008
Foldit
| Screenshot of the Foldit application showing a folding puzzle in progress | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | University of Washington, Center for Game Science, Department of Biochemistry |
| Initial release | May 8, 2008 |
| Preview release | Perpetual beta |
| Operating system | Cross-platform: Windows, macOS, Linux |
What is the Foldit project?
Play a competitive online game to fold proteins. Foldit is a computer game that enables you to contribute to important scientific research in protein folding. Players compete with one another to discover high-scoring protein folds, which represent a protein’s physical structure.
What is the purpose of Foldit game in relation to enzyme technology?
An online game has helped determine the structure of an enzyme that could pave the way for anti-Aids drugs. The game, called Foldit, allows players to create new shapes of proteins by randomly folding digital molecules on their computer screens.
What is the protein game?
The game is a protein-folding puzzler called Foldit, which was created at UW’s Center for Game Science more than a decade ago and has attracted nearly more than 750,000 registered players since then. Foldit’s fans find ways to twist virtual protein structures into all sorts of contortions.
What do Foldit players do?
Foldit is a popular online citizen-science game, in which players are scored on the structure of proteins that they’ve folded. In Foldit puzzles, for example, players are rewarded for solving clashes and voids, places where the protein is not consistent with known biochemical patterns.
What are clashes in Foldit?
If you’ve folded a protein so two sidechains are too close together, your score will go down a lot. This is represented by a red spiky ball (clash) where the two sidechains are intersecting. If there are clashes, you know something is wrong with your protein.
How do you cite foldit?
Citation. If you use Foldit Standalone in your work, please cite: Robert Kleffner, Jeff Flatten, Andrew Leaver-Fay, David Baker, Justin B. Siegel, Firas Khatib and Seth Cooper.
How does energy relate to Foldit?
In Foldit terms, the lower the free energy, the higher the score. Free energy makes a protein less stable. So a major goal in Foldit is to minimize free energy, making the protein more stable and increasing the score in Foldit.
How do you use foldit standalone?
Foldit Standalone Quickstart Guide
- Select “Order Now” under “Foldit Standalone Academic License” on the right.
- Click “Checkout Now” and follow prompts to obtain a license for Foldit.
- You will receive an email with instructions to access the download page.
- Select the “Foldit Standalone” download link for your platform.
How is Foldit score calculated?
Scoring in Foldit is based on Rosetta, protein modeling software originally developed at the University of Washington. In Foldit, the overall score of the protein is the sum of the scores of each segment, plus an arbitrary 8000, plus the bonuses or penalties from any conditions defined for the puzzle.