Abstract
Can the brainpower of humans worldwide be applied to critical problems posed in computational biology, such as the structure determination of proteins and designing novel enzymes? Yes! Citizen scientists—most of whom have little or no prior biochemistry experience—have uncovered knowledge that eluded scientists for years. Players of the online protein folding video game Foldit have contributed to several scientific discoveries through gameplay. Rather than solving problems with a purely computational approach, combining humans and computers can provide a means for solving problems neither could solve alone.