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1794: CRISPR-Cas Transposase Part I: Electron Density

Closed since about 6 years ago

Advanced Overall Prediction Electron Density

Summary

Created
January 31, 2020
Expires
Max points
100
Description

Fold the transposase protein into a density map! This is a followup to Puzzle 1784: CRISPR-Cas Transposase Part I, now with a cryo-EM density map! Players may load in previous work from Puzzle 1784.



CRISPR-Cas is a mixed complex of RNA and proteins, which work together to make a very precise cut in a cell's DNA. Scientists recently discovered a variant of CRISPR-Cas that coopts a new protein called a transposase. In addition to cutting DNA, the transposase also allows precise insertion of new material into a target DNA strand. This new variant could lead to more efficient gene editing with CRISPR-Cas! New cryoEM experiments have shed some light on the transposase structure, which was previously unknown.



We're asking Foldit players to help solve how this transposase protein folds! The transposase is a large 400-residue protein, so this puzzle only includes the first half of the protein, and we will post the second half of the protein in a follow-up puzzle. In this puzzle we've provided only the portion of density for this half of the transposase protein.



Sequence:

MFLQRPKPYSDESLESFFIRVANKNGYGDVHRFLEATKRFLQDIDHNGYQTFPTDITRINPYSAKNSSSARTASFLKLAQLTFNEPPELLGLAINRTNMKYSPSTSAVVRGAEVFPRSLLRTHSIPCCPLCLRENGYASYLWHFQGYEYCHSHNVPLITTCSCGKEFDYRVSGLKGICCKCKEPITLT

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Comments

Merf Lv 1

This is very interesting. It would seem that the scoreboard works for some players, but not for others.
Could this be a local issue?

Susume Lv 1

I've worked on this daily since it came out, multiple hours each day, and still don't have it all placed with less than 48 hours to go. I'm running scripts on whatever is my latest version in the background, but if I do finish the placement I won't have time for much scripted refinement on that last version. It's really too difficult to finish in a week. I hope you don't release the second one right away, as I need to catch up on all the things I have put off to work on this one.

agcohn821 Staff Lv 1

I'm hearing a lot of concern about it being too difficult–thank you all for your input! This is an interesting point and I'll bring it back to the team.

bkoep Staff Lv 1

Sorry to say, the next density puzzle will come right after this one.

But don't worry too much if you feel like you can't finish the puzzle! We will definitely see more of these puzzles, and we will make sure players can load in previous work.