Mutate threshold

Started by steveB

steveB Lv 1

At present, the mutate function will replace an amino acid ONLY when this improves the score. However, amino acid replacements which do not directly improve the score are often improvements once the structure has been wiggled and shaken around.

Would it not be a good idea to add a "mutate threshold" slider control to the behaviour tab, allowing the user to reduce the score change required for a mutation to take place. This could work in the same manner as the current "clashing importance", which has made a massive difference to the efficiency of foldit, and could have some quite unexpected and benficial consequences.

steveB Lv 1

I think there would be a big difference between the two ideas.

Setting the clashing threshold lower allows foldit to mutate to acids which do not fit into the available space without clashing. Chances are that these cannot be wiggled to a good score

Having a mutate score threshold would allow foldit to mutate to acids which just about fit into the available space but with a slight drop in score. These could well wiggle out to a good score.