Have you ever played a computer game that could benefit society?

Foldit (an example of  Network Science) is an online science puzzle game in which multiple players predict protein structures, and the information gathered from the game has potential uses in the fight against diseases.

Knowing the structure of a protein is crucial to insights into its mechanisms, as well as determining a methodology for drug targeting.

Even a small protein consisting of one hundred amino acids can fold into countless different geometries (some human proteins contain in the order of a thousand amino acids), and deciding which of the manifold structures is the best one is very difficult and time consuming, even when using computers. Foldit players (not, by any means, experts in the field) use spatial relation skills competitively to solve a puzzle and create the best protein. Solutions receiving the highest scores are given to biochemists who determine whether any solution is useable; and, incredibly, there have been positive results.

And there are other Network Science initiatives; for another example, at  http://phylo.cs.mcgill.ca/: according to the website, “Phylo is a challenging flash game in which every puzzle completed contributes to mapping diseases within human DNA.” I haven’t tried it yet, but plan to over the holidays…

All my thoughts about computer games being a waste of time and energy have just gone up in ever-changing, folded geometries of smoke…