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NEWS > GAMES > VIDEO GAME PLAYERS SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF THE AIDS PUZZLE
VIDEO GAME PLAYERS SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF THE AIDS PUZZLE
September 20 2011
Seattle, Washington – It wasn’t all that long ago that video games were not all that highly regarded. They were kid’s toys, or the activities of socially muted teens and adults. While in some corners that attitude still persists, video games have gone mainstream, outgrossing the movie industry and becoming a go-to social destination for millions.
Such a shift in only a handful of years, really less than a single generation, is unlike anything else in popular culture. No entertainment medium has gone from social pariah to dominant force in such a short time before. That, in turn, has made gamers a potent part of society as a whole, a major economic and social driver, which in turn has given them real world power.
Now some of that power has been harnessed and turned towards a positive cause after an experiment by the University of Washington utilized online gamers to help them solve one of the great puzzles of the HIV virus. While still far from a cure, the discovery of the monomeric protease enzyme will help researchers develop new treatments for the disease that very few gamers are likely to ever contract, or even risk contracting, in their lives.
“We wanted to see if human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed. We wanted to see if human intuition could succeed where automated methods
had failed,” the university said in press release. “Games provide a framework for bringing together the strengths of computers and humans. The results in this week's paper show that gaming, science and computation can be combined to make advances that were not possible before.”
The discovery will allow new treatments of all retroviruses, the family to which HIV belongs. It is not considered a cure or even potential cure for HIV or AIDS.
“This is really exciting research for a lot of reasons. Not only are the results themselves very important, but the way in which they were achieved is even more important. This type of crowd sourcing is something that people have been talking up for a few years but has had very little real impact on the medical or scientific world, until now. This shows it can work,” said Scrape TV Science analyst Dr. Howard Poe. “It also shows that it can work with people who have little or no direct benefit from the results. HIV is a very potent disease but there are many people who will never interact with it, never contract it, and it’s great that they were willing to help aid this research. That bodes well for future research of this type.”
The University has not expanded their participation with gamers, saying that there is only so much of it they can take.
“This is really important for the future of this type of researching technique. I’m sure, with very little reward, many gamers will sign up to be a part of these studies, if for no other reason than just to feel like they are a part of something worthwhile. Something much more valuable than playing games at least,” continued Poe. “This really shows the world that gaming is more than just what they thought it has, that it has real world value and that should be applauded.”
We attempted to contact gamers involved with the research but they refused to answer the phone.
Douglas Havermore, Games Correspondent
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