Games with real-life consequences

Eterna, the first version of the video game, was launched five years ago as a way to let nonscientists design potentially useful biomolecules that are stable enough to function inside a living cell. Over the years, the players have become more and more expert in designing complex RNA molecules. They are so good at it now that the players recently co-authored an article in the Journal of Molecular Biology describing a set of rules for predicting how difficult it will be to build a given RNA molecule.

Now Das has set a new challenge in front of them: design a molecule that could help save the lives of millions of people.

Recently, assistant professor of medicine Purvesh Khatri, PhD, and his team came up with a test that can accurately diagnose TB from a simple blood sample. The test looks at the expression levels of three different genes. Cells “express” genes when the cell transcribes a gene into a length of RNA.

In the Khatri lab’s TB test, when the three genes are expressed in certain proportions, doctors know the patient has TB. But how to calculate those proportions in a simple test on a stick — like a pregnancy test — is the challenge. To do so, Das said, they need a molecule that can calculate the proportions of three molecules. Right now, there’s no single molecule that can make that calculation.

But Das said the Eterna game, powered by the minds of thousands of players, can theoretically create a molecule capable of such a calculation. His hope is to get tens of thousands of designs, of which perhaps a thousand may have potential. Das’ lab will then test all of these molecules to see how well they work in the lab. If successful, a subset of 10 to 20 molecules will be tested to see which work best in a real stick-test.

Said Das, “Eterna Medicine is a little different from the original Eterna because we are trying to recruit people to make something with an eventual real-world impact.”