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The Science Behind Foldit
Foldit is a revolutionary new computer game enabling you to contribute to important scientific research. This page describes the science behind Foldit and how your playing can help.
Page Contents:
What is protein folding?
Why is this game important?
News Articles about Foldit
Rosetta@Home Screensaver
What is protein folding?
What is a protein? Proteins are the workhorses in every cell of every living thing. Your body is made up of trillions of cells, of all different kinds: muscle cells, brain cells, blood cells, and more. Inside those cells, proteins are allowing your body to do what it does: break down food to power your muscles, send signals through your brain that control the body, and transport nutrients through your blood. Proteins come in thousands of different varieties, but they all have a lot in common. For instance, they're made of the same stuff: every protein consists of a long chain of joined-together amino acids.
What are amino acids? Amino acids are small molecules made up of atoms of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and hydrogen. To make a protein, the amino acids are joined in an unbranched chain, like a line of people holding hands. Just as the line of people has their legs and feet "hanging" off the chain, each amino acid has a small group of atoms (called a sidechain) sticking off the main chain (backbone) that connects them all together. There are 20 different kinds of amino acids, which differ from one another based on what atoms are in their sidechains. These 20 amino acids fall into different groups based on their chemical properties: acidic or alkaline, hydrophilic (water-loving) or hydrophobic (greasy).
