Thread by @bopinion

Quickly vaccinating billions of people around the globe against Covid-19 is going to be an endeavor like no other in human history.

Thousands of online gamers could help expedite the process trib.al/uXPmeIl

Some of the leading contenders — mRNA vaccines — have a very short shelf life:

🥶💉They have to be stored and shipped at temperatures as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius (minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit) trib.al/uXPmeIl

These mRNA vaccines are promising because they can be created and manufactured quickly.

There’s just one catch: Once thawed, these vaccines need to be used immediately trib.al/uXPmeIl

Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine candidates are mRNA vaccines.

Without a breakthrough, such vaccines wouldn’t be available at local pharmacies, community centers or libraries, as the flu shot is. They probably would never reach developing countries trib.al/uXPmeIl

It should be possible to create a longer-lasting vaccine by redesigning a bit of its genetic code, which is where the gamers come in.

Once injected into our bodies, the new code could instruct cells to create a protein identical to the exterior SARS-CoV-2 trib.al/uXPmeIl

Scientists can quite easily design an mRNA that codes for this protein.

In fact, there is an astronomical number of possible mRNAs that will work. The trick is finding an mRNA that’s built to stay effective for a long time in a regular refrigerator trib.al/uXPmeIl

This biochemical problem is currently being worked on by people around the world — by playing a game called Eterna.

Solving puzzles requires folding an RNA molecule into a particular shape. It’s a simple interface backed by state-of-the-art simulations trib.al/uXPmeIl

In recent years, the citizen science of Eterna has helped discover new methods of disease detection and gene therapy.

Once an mRNA vaccine is approved by the FDA, the work that Eterna is doing would allow the vaccine to be quickly redesigned trib.al/uXPmeIl

🕹️So why tackle this scientific inquiry with a game?

It turns out that big groups of humans are better — significantly so — at coming up with brand-new RNA structures than even the latest kinds of artificial intelligence trib.al/uXPmeIl

The game leverages the knowledge of thousands — programmers and plumbers, architects and astrophysicists, gamers and grandparents.

These diverse gamers take on weekly challenges that are created by Stanford scientists and dozens of committed players trib.al/uXPmeIl

Given the vast structural possibilities, players routinely generate RNA molecules that look like flowers, antlers, and other shapes never seen before by RNA researchers.

That’s why Eterna needs to recruit many more players. More players, more new designs trib.al/uXPmeIl

All players are critical to the function of citizen-science games.

It’s often the new players who hit upon revolutionary RNA structures — in part because they are unconstrained by the norms of biochemistry trib.al/uXPmeIl