Fold It Research Paper

Fold It, an original experimental research project and an online video game puzzle, was developed by the University of Washington’s Game Science Center along with the University Of Washington’s Department Of Biochemistry to identify natural protein structures and further improve medical technology. Each puzzle consists of a protein structure, and the player must overcome each obstacle to move on to the next puzzle—for example, the player must move the structure to create ‘matches (where ‘sheets’ are put together) or get rid of ‘clashes (red ‘spike balls’ that appear when the player makes a mistake while moving the structure together or apart); tools such as ‘Wiggle (where the opposite sides of the structure moves towards each other) and ‘Freeze

In every organism’s cell, a protein’s job is to break down different foods, power up the muscles, send brain signals that control the body, and transport all nutrients through blood. There are more than 100,000 different kinds of proteins in the human body that make up the immune system. Every protein has a long chain of amino acids (small molecules made up of atoms such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and hydrogen) which are joined together. For example, amylase is a protein—it starts the process where starch is broken down (from food) and converted into usable forms for the body. Proteins also consist of a structure. Some proteins fold into ‘blobs’, where some amino acids are located in the center of the shape, and some are located on the outside. The protein structure is vital because it determines protein function. Proteins catalyze chemical reactions by bringing them together in the right orientation and helping them react together. However, if the protein structure is incorrect, then it won’t have the ability to build up these reactions because the ‘pieces’ will not ‘fit’ together. In Fold it, the players can experiment with the protein structure by turning, twisting, or pulling the enzyme to understand its