Written by Cassie, 2021 Cohort
When I was a little girl, I was always scolded by my parents when I secretly played games and was told that playing games was a waste of time. Most people’s attitudes towards video games are generally negative. Even in the opinion of game lovers like me, the greatest significance of the game’s existence is more to provide players with a colourful life experience.
However, Foldit breaks our prejudice about games. It is no exaggeration to say that in the future, Foldit may bring a turning point in the fight against the epidemic.
What is FoldIt?
Foldit is an online puzzle video game about protein folding. It lets players try to manipulate simple protein structures and regularly updates puzzles based on real protein structures. The main reason why it can engage the public in research is that its tutorials are very clear, the gameplay is easy to understand, and it hardly even requires knowledge of biology, while being full of fun.
Gamers can also be scientists
If you just think of this game as a popular science game only to entertain gamers, then you are very wrong. This game has made a great contribution to science and society. In 2011, Foldit players solved a protein-folding puzzle that had plagued biologists for 15 years in 3 weeks. And the paper was published in the scientific journal Nature.
Recently, Foldit has added new puzzles to the game based on the proteins of the new coronavirus. Scientists believe that if we can design a special protein, we may be able to develop a vaccine for the new coronavirus to stop it from ravaging the human body.
This shows that a small puzzle game can contribute to scientific research, and perhaps more gamers will join the “battle” against the new coronavirus. With the development of technology, games are no longer a narrowly defined pastime activity. The technology in the game is entering our lives and even changing our future.