Scientists and medical experts were astounded at the breakthrough gamers have made in solving a problem that will ultimately help in finding a cure for AIDS. This problem has blocked the way for medical experts for the past 15 years, and has been recently solved by gamers in just three weeks, after the University of Washington presented the structure of the AIDS-like enzyme to the gamers in the form of an online game. The game was developed back in 2008 under the name Foldit, and splits the gamers in small groups which have to compete against each other in unfolding chains of amino acids (which make up the structure of proteins) with the help of some tools, the better the model of the enzyme the more points the group gets. To the astonishment of the medical experts, the gamers were able to produced an accurate model of the enzyme after just three weeks, opening the door to a world of possibilities in starting to tackle the HIV Virus. It is believed that this was the first time the gaming public managed to solve a scientific problem before scientists, and the exploit was published on Sunday in the journal 'Nature Structural & Molecular Biology' in which both the gamers and researchers behind Foldit are honored as co-authors.
