inkycatz Lv 1
Thought we just had too many questions and not enough time last science chat? You're right - but that doesn't mean we can't get you some answers, because we want to encourage this type of enthusiasm and interest in every chat. Look for our next chat coming up sometime in mid-March!
And now on to the questions, with answers helpfully provided via bkoep.
When you have a foldit design that looks promising, but Rosetta doesn't settle on a single fold, do you try different sequences on that backbone to see if one of them gives better Rosetta results? Source
No, we think Foldit players should be able to design sequences for the backbones create.
I would like to assess my own sequences. What is the protocol for that? Source
If you simply want to use the Foldit program to manipulate your own protein models on a personal computer, there is a standalone version of Foldit available under commercial or academic license here:
https://els.comotion.uw.edu/express_license_technologies/foldit
If you are interested in tapping the power of the Foldit community, or if you have an idea for a Foldit puzzle, please contact our community manager inkycatz. We are always open to collaboration!
Foldit has been holding steady with a relatively constant number of core players for several years. Are there plans to dramatically grow the core? Perhaps through promotions, usability improvements or instructional videos to thoroughly explain existing features to new players? Source
We would love to expand Foldit! Usually, our resources are directed towards the improvement of Foldit tools and towards the application Foldit to new types of research problems. However, the scientific power of Foldit increases with the number of players, and hopefully we will be able spend some time making Foldit more friendly to new users. Also see inkycatz's answer on this topic.
Thanks for all the questions. See you at a future chat!