# Want to be a scientist?  Play this game.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-be-a-scientist-play-this-game/451405>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [June 1, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-be-a-scientist-play-this-game/451405 "2008-06-01T23:40:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-be-a-scientist-play-this-game/451405/1 "2008-06-01T23:40:54Z")

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[foldit](http://fold.it/portal/adobe_main/), the protein-folding puzzle game. You fold proteins, and you earn points for designing something that’s chemically stable. Good designs will be used in actual research projects and applications.

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**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-be-a-scientist-play-this-game/451405/2 "2020-03-19T18:50:14Z")

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> [@ultrafilter](#):
>
> [foldit](http://fold.it/portal/adobe_main/), the protein-folding puzzle game. You fold proteins, and you earn points for designing something that’s chemically stable. Good designs will be used in actual research projects and applications.

Bump.  
"\*You don’t have to be a scientist to do science! Download and play Foldit and you can help researchers discover new antiviral drugs that might stop coronavirus! The most promising solutions will be manufactured and tested at the University of Washington [Institute for Protein Design](https://www.ipd.uw.edu/) in Seattle.

Foldit is run by academic research scientists. It is free to play and not-for-profit. To get started, download Foldit and create a username!

We recommend that new players start with the Foldit Intro Puzzles.  
After some practice, move on to the Science Puzzles and try out the [Beginner: Coronavirus](https://fold.it/portal/node/2008951) puzzle.  
We also have an [DEL][advanced puzzle](https://fold.it/portal/node/2008926)[/DEL] [NEW advanced puzzle](https://fold.it/portal/node/2008984) where you can try to design an antiviral protein from scratch!\*"

~Max