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. 2014 Aug 9;3(4):90-4.
doi: 10.1016/j.atg.2014.07.001. eCollection 2014 Dec 1.

Online citizen science games: Opportunities for the biological sciences

Vickie Curtis  1
Affiliations

Online citizen science games: Opportunities for the biological sciences

Vickie Curtis. Appl Transl Genom. .

Abstract

Recent developments in digital technologies and the rise of the Internet have created new opportunities for citizen science. One of these has been the development of online citizen science games where complex research problems have been re-imagined as online multiplayer computer games. Some of the most successful examples of these can be found within the biological sciences, for example, Foldit, Phylo and EteRNA. These games offer scientists the opportunity to crowdsource research problems, and to engage with those outside the research community. Games also enable those without a background in science to make a valid contribution to research, and may also offer opportunities for informal science learning.

Keywords: Citizen science; EteRNA; Foldit; Games; Phylo.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Foldit science puzzle. The game tools are visible in the bottom left-hand corner, the rank of all players taking part in this puzzle is displayed in the top right-hand corner, and the internet relay chat (IRC) window is in the bottom right-hand corner.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Phylo puzzle. Players attempt to line up squares of the same colour as best they can minimising the spaces and gaining as many points possible. More species (shown on the left of the screen) are introduced as the level of difficulty of the puzzle increases.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
EteRNA puzzle. Each of the nucleotide bases is represented by four different colours and players must produce stable linkages. Some puzzles have stipulations for numbers of specific types of base pairing (in this puzzle, there must be at least 5 uracil–guanine pairings).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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