Determining crystal structures through crowdsourcing and coursework

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Foldit Players

We show here that computer game players can build high-quality crystal structures. Introduction of a new feature into the computer game Foldit allows players to build and real-space refine structures into electron density maps. To assess the usefulness of this feature, we held a crystallographic model-building competition between trained crystallographers, undergraduate students, Foldit players and automatic model-building algorithms. After removal of disordered residues, a team of Foldit players achieved the most accurate structure. Analysing the target protein of the competition, YPL067C, uncovered a new family of histidine triad proteins apparently involved in the prevention of amyloid toxicity. From this study, we conclude that crystallographers can utilize crowdsourcing to interpret electron density information and to produce structure solutions of the highest quality.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNature Communications
Volume7
Pages (from-to)12549
ISSN2041-1723
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Crowdsourcing/methods, Crystallography/methods, Curriculum, Hydrolases/chemistry, Models, Chemical, Protein Conformation, Software

ID: 209744227