Foldit

FoldIt is an online game that focuses on the challenging task of solving the computational problem of protein folding. This task is one of the most complicated in biology, as proteins play a vital role in practically every cell in every living organism. Proteins are responsible for many critical functions such as breaking down food, transmitting signals through the brain, and transporting nutrients throughout the body.

There are thousands of varieties of proteins, all of which share a common structure containing amino acids. Although proteins are made up of a long chain of amino acids, they do not prefer to stay stretched out in a straight line. Instead, they fold up to create compact, specific shapes that keep certain amino acids on the inside and others on the outside. This folding is necessary to form the most stable state that the protein can adopt.

The FoldIt game allows users to participate in protein folding in a fun and engaging way. Players can manipulate the structure of proteins to create specific shapes, effectively influencing the behavior of the protein. It's an incredible advancement in solving one of the most important problems in the field of biology.