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1450: Aflatoxin Challenge: Round 3

Closed since over 8 years ago

Summary

Created: November 15, 2017
Expires: November 29, 2017 at 23:00 UTC
Max points: 100

Description

This is the third puzzle of our Aflatoxin Challenge, with the aflatoxin ligand now in a different orientation in the enzyme binding pocket. Aflatoxins are a class of poisonous compounds that contaminate a significant portion of the global food supply. In this puzzle, players are challenged to redesign an enzyme that could break down aflatoxin molecules. The majority of the protein is frozen, with the aflatoxin ligand fixed in a binding pocket. Surrounding the binding pocket are a number of loops that might be redesigned without affecting the folding stability of the protein. In these loops, players may manipulate the protein backbone and mutate the residue sidechains. To encourage interactions with the ligand, all ligand scores are doubled. Previous Aflatoxin Challenge designs are incompatible with this puzzle, so players will not be able to load work from previous puzzles.

This puzzle is part of our Aflatoxin Challenge, sponsored by Mars Inc. and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Promising designs will be tested by the Siegel Lab at UC Davis. By participating in the challenge/game, the players agree that all player designs will be available permanently in the public domain, and the players will not seek intellectual property protection over the designs created as part of the challenge/game.