SleepyEgg

"Citizen science" is a recent movement to get interested members of the public involved in scientific research. Participants—who may or may not have scientific training—can perform tasks that can't be automated well, such as analyzing images. One of the most successful citizen science projects has been FoldIt, a game based on the biochemistry of how proteins form structures in three dimensions.

When asked to figure out the likely structure of a protein, FoldIt players have done remarkably well, in some cases surpassing the best algorithms devised by computer scientists. But until recently, all they've been asked to do is figure out how existing proteins fold. That has now changed; the people behind the FoldIt project have added tools that allow players to engineer new variants of an old protein. Once again, the gamers have come through, figuring out changes that dramatically improve the protein's activity.