The Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University would like to invite you to put your creativity and problem-solving skills to the test and participate in a global puzzle game to help find new drugs to treat coronavirus. If you like puzzles, join our Fold.it team and let’s see if we can find a new protein structure that can help combat the virus. If you prefer automation, join the Folding@home challenge, and let the idle power of your computer look for new solutions while you relax.
“Foldit is an online puzzle video game about protein folding. It is part of an experimental research project developed by the University of Washington, Center for Game Science, in collaboration with the UW Department of Biochemistry. The objective of Fold.it is to fold the structures of selected proteins as perfectly as possible, using tools provided in the game. The highest scoring solutions are analyzed by researchers, who determine whether or not there is a native structural configuration (native state) that can be applied to relevant proteins in the real world. Scientists can then use these solutions to target and eradicate diseases and create biological innovations. A 2010 paper in the science journal Nature credited Foldit's 57,000 players with providing useful results that matched or outperformed algorithmically computed solutions.” [Wikipedia].
In response to the global coronavirus pandemic, Foldit is releasing new puzzles that aim to identify solutions for anti-viral drugs to combat coronavirus. Hong Kong Baptist University would like to invite students, staff and community members to join our Foldit team with the goal of having one of our protein solutions selected for scientific testing, and offering our creativity and problem-solving skills for the help of the global community.
Download and install Fold.it: https://fold.it/portal/
Once you have set up your free Fold.it account and downloaded the game, you can join the AVACompute Team here: https://fold.it/portal/node/2009527
Fold.it in the news: https://www.pcgamer.com/join-pc-gamers-foldinghome-team-and-help-research-a-cure-for-covid-19/
Take a break and let your computer do the work! If you get tired of solving puzzles, donate your idle computing time to the Folding@home application. This automated protein solving program uses the idle computing power of your home computer to create a distributed supercomputer for finding new medical solutions to this global pandemic.
Automate your computer to run Folding@home: https://foldingathome.org/
Folding@home in the news: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2020/03/16/the-graphics-card-in-your-pc-can-help-fight-coronavirus/#6153d06c1704