5.3.2 Foldit

Foldit yog ib tug zoo nkauj qhib hu vim hais tias nws enables uas tsis yog-cov kws txawj kom koom nyob rau hauv ib txoj kev uas yog kev lom zem.

Lub Netflix nqi zog, thaum evocative thiab ntshiab, tsis piv txwv li tag nrho cov ntau yam ntawm qhib hu tej yaam num. Piv txwv li, nyob rau hauv lub Netflix nqi zog feem ntau ntawm cov loj koom muaj xyoo kev kawm nyob rau hauv statistics thiab tshuab kev kawm. Tab sis, qhib hu tej yaam num yuav tau koom nrog cov neeg uas muaj tsis tau kawm, raws li tau taw qhia los ntawm Foldit, ib tug protein folding kev ua si.

Protein folding yog tus txheej txheem uas los ntawm ib cov saw ntawm cov amino acids yuav siv sij hawm nyob rau hauv nws cov zoo. Nrog ib tug zoo dua kev nkag siab ntawm txoj kev no, biologists yuav tsim cov nqaijrog nrog tej daim uas yuav siv tau raws li cov tshuaj. Simplifying ib tug heev me ntsis, cov nqaijrog yuav tsiv mus nyob rau lawv qis tshaj zog configuration, ib tug configuration uas sib npaug rau ntau yam li nias dua thiab cia li nkaum kiag tsis pub dhau lub protein (Daim duab 5.7). Yog li ntawd, yog ib tug soj ntsuam xav twv seb yog dab tsi zoo rau hauv uas ib tug protein yuav quav, cov tshuaj suab yooj yim: cia li sim tag nrho cov tau configurations, xam lawv energies, thiab kwv yees hais tias tus protein yuav quav mus rau hauv lub qis tshaj zog configuration. Tu siab, qhov no brute quab yuam mus kom ze uas yuav sim tag nrho cov tau configurations yog computationally tsis yooj yim sua vim hais tias muaj cov billions thiab billions ntawm tej configurations. Txawm muaj cov haib tshaj computers muaj hnub no-thiab nyob rau hauv lub yav tom ntej-brute quab yuam yog cia li tsis mus ua hauj lwm. Yog li ntawd, biologists tau tsim muaj ntau yam ntse algorithms nraaj nrhiav rau tus nqi qis tshaj zog configuration. Tab sis, txawm loj heev ntawm kev thiab computational zog, cov algorithms yog tseem nyob deb ntawm zoo meej.

Daim duab 5.7: Protein folding. Duab tau tsim thiab muab tso rau hauv pej xeem sau los ntawm "DrKjaergaard". Tau qhov twg los: Wikimedia Commons .

David neeg ua mov ci thiab nws kev tshawb fawb pab pawg neeg nyob rau University of Washington yog ib feem ntawm lub zej lub zos ntawm zaum ua hauj lwm los tsim zoo dua computational le caag los protein folding. Nyob rau hauv thiaj li yuav taug qab dab tsi twb tshwm sim thaum lawv algorithms tau cranking tam sim ntawd, neeg ua mov ci thiab nws pab pawg neeg yuav puav saib ib qho screen-saver uas visualized qhov kev kawm ntawm lawv cov algorithms. Thaum menyuam cov visualizations, Baker pib xav hais tias nws yuav ua tau rau tib neeg mus pab nyob rau hauv tus txheej txheem, thiab yog li pib Foldit, ib tug muaj tswv yim thiab zoo nkauj qhib hu (Hand 2010) .

Foldit puv hauv tus txheej txheem ntawm cov protein folding rau hauv ib tug kev ua si uas yuav ua si los ntawm leej twg. Los ntawm cov foundations ntawm cov neeg uas ua ntawv, Foldit zoo li yuav ib tug puzzle (Daim duab 5.8). Players uas hais nrog ib tug peb-dimensional tangle ntawm cov protein thiab yuav ua tau operations- "tweak", "qoj", "yaj" -that hloov nws zoo lawm. Los ntawm kev ua cov hauj lwm players hloov qhov zoo ntawm cov protein, uas nyob rau hauv lem nce los yog txo lawv tau. Mob nyav, tau yog xam raws li lub zog-theem ntawm cov tam sim no configuration; qis zog configurations ua nyob rau hauv ntau dua cov qhab nees. Nyob rau hauv lwm yam lus, cov qhab nia yuav pab coj cov players raws li lawv nrhiav rau cov uas tsis-zog configurations. Qhov kev ua si no tsuas tau vim hais tias-cia li zoo li cua movie kev nyob rau hauv lub Netflix nqi zog-protein folding kuj yog ib tug teeb meem uas nws yog yooj yim los mus xyuas cov ntsiab tshaj tsim rau lawv.

Daim duab 5.8: Kev ua si screen rau Foldit.

Foldit lub elegant tsim enables players nrog me ntsis kev paub ntawm biochemistry los lwv nrog qhov zoo tshaj plaws algorithms tsim los ntawm cov kws txawj. Thaum uas feem ntau players yog tsis yog tshwj xeeb zoo ntawm cov neeg ua hauj lwm, muaj ib tug ob peb players thiab me me pawg ntawm players uas yog exceptional. Nyob rau hauv qhov tseeb, nyob rau hauv ib lub taub hau-rau-lub taub hau sib tw twv seb cov qauv ntawm cov 10 cov nqaijrog, Foldit players twb tau tuav lub xeev-of-the-art protein folding algorithms tsib lub sij hawm (Cooper et al. 2010) .

Foldit thiab cov Netflix nqi zog yog cov sib txawv nyob rau hauv ntau txoj kev uas, tab sis nkawd ob leeg koom nrog qhib hu rau kev daws teeb meem uas yog yooj yim mus saib dua kom muaj. Tam sim no, peb yuav pom cov tib qauv nyob rau hauv tsis tau lwm sib txawv heev qhov chaw: patent txoj cai. Qhov no kawg piv txwv ntawm ib qho kev qhib hu teeb meem qhia tau hais tias lawv muaj peev xwm kuj yuav siv tau nyob rau hauv cov chaw uas tsis yog obviously amenable mus quantification.