...then SETI@home became the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC). Now "crowd sourcing" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowd_source) takes on the AIDS virus... and cracks it..... FTW! (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/for_the_win)

You remember the SETI@home project. Ordinary people would offer up CPU cycles on their computers to analyze "pictures" of the heavens looking for signs of extra-terrestrial life: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/

For various technical and security reasons, this grew into the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) which now encompasses SETI@home as well as over 40 other "crowd sourced" analysis projects.

Stanford released the Folding@Home project was started in 2001 to help scientists studying diseases by simply running a piece of software. Folding@home is a distributed computing project -- people from throughout the world download and run software to band together to make one of the largest supercomputers in the world. Every computer takes the project closer to our goals. Folding@home uses novel computational methods coupled to distributed computing, to simulate problems millions of times more challenging than previously achieved.

In 2008 FoldIt (a protein folding game) was developed by doctoral student Seth Cooper and postdoctoral researcher Adrien Treuille, both in computer science and engineering, working with Zoran Popovic, a UW associate professor of computer science and engineering; David Baker, a UW professor of biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator; and David Salesin, a UW professor of computer science and engineering. Professional game designers provided advice during the game's creation.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508122520.htm

"The ingenuity of game players is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems."

Now, it seems, FoldIt gamers have, well, see for yourself: ...from: http://gizmodo.com/5841782/gamers-crack-code-that-could-lead-to-new-aids-tre... http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/online-gamers-crack-aids-enzyme-puz...

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SCIENCE Gamers Crack Code That Could Lead to New AIDS Treatments Scientists spent a decade trying—and failing—to map the structure of an enzyme that could help solve a crucial part of the AIDS puzzle. It took online gamers all of three weeks.

The enzyme in question is the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus retroviral protease, and researchers have been seeking ways of deactivating it as a way of developing new anti-HIV drugs. Unfortunately, the conventional efforts of computers and scientists have come up short for years.

Enter: Foldit. Foldit was developed in 2008 as a means of discovering the structures of various proteins and amino acids—something computers can't do very well—by turning it into a game. By inputting the experimental coordinates for the monkey virus enzyme, gamers—most of whom didn't have a background in molecular biology—were able to accurately predict the structure of the protein, allowing scientists to pinpoint locations to stop the virus' growth.

The study, published in Nature Structure & Molecular Biology, details how incredible a step this is towards developing more effective therapies for HIV/AIDS patients. It's also an important precedent that lays the groundwork for scientists and lay people to work together to solve new problems and save lives. Which is very exciting.