DCAWD.com

he players of the online protein-folding game Foldit (which we’ve reported on before) outperformed scientists by discovering the structure of a protein involved in the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV). The M-PMV is a retrovirus, like HIV, that causes AIDS in monkeys and apes. Understanding its structure will help researchers develop antiretroviral drugs that can fight HIV—but this has been a mystery for over a decade.

Now, with the help of groups of (generally) non-scientist players and their pattern-recognition skills, scientists from the University of Washington have joined with groups including "Foldit Contenders Group" and "Foldit Void Crushers Group" to model the crystal structure of the M-PMV retroviral protease (PR), a protein responsible for viral growth.