"Developed in 2008 by the University of Washington, it is a fun-for-purpose video game in which gamers, divided into competing groups, compete to unfold chains of amino acids - the building blocks of proteins - using a set of online tools.
To the astonishment of the scientists, the gamers produced an accurate model of the enzyme in just three weeks.
Cracking the enzyme "provides new insights for the design of antiretroviral drugs", says the study, referring to the medication to keep people with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) alive.
It is believed to be the first time that gamers have resolved a long-standing scientific problem."
