Editors Note: This post, written by Christine Nieves, originally appeared on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Pioneering Ideas blog. Check out the citizen science projects mentioned in the post, such as
Sound Around You, and
FightMalaria@Home on SciStarter.
Christine Nieves/RWJF I remember the distinct feeling of learning about Foldit. It was a mixture of awe and hope for the potential breakthrough contributions a citizen can make towards science (without needing a PhD!). Foldit is an online puzzle video game about protein folding. In 2011, Foldit users decoded an AIDS protein that had been a mystery to researchers for 15 years. The gamers accomplished it in 3 weeks. When I learned this, it suddenly hit me; if we, society, systematically harness the curiosity of citizens, we could do so much! This is the spirit behind our recent exploration to learn more about how citizen scientists are addressing some of the ...
