<s>
Eterna	B-Application
is	O
a	O
browser-based	B-Protocol
"	O
game	O
with	O
a	O
purpose	O
"	O
,	O
developed	O
by	O
scientists	O
at	O
Carnegie	O
Mellon	O
University	O
and	O
Stanford	O
University	O
,	O
that	O
engages	O
users	O
to	O
solve	O
puzzles	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
folding	O
of	O
RNA	O
molecules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
to	O
Foldit	B-Language
—	O
created	O
by	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
researchers	O
that	O
developed	O
Eterna	B-Application
—	O
the	O
puzzles	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
human	O
problem-solving	O
capabilities	O
to	O
solve	O
puzzles	O
that	O
are	O
computationally	O
laborious	O
for	O
current	O
computer	B-Application
models	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
researchers	O
hope	O
to	O
capitalize	O
on	O
"	O
crowdsourcing	O
"	O
and	O
the	O
collective	O
intelligence	O
of	O
Eterna	B-Application
players	O
to	O
answer	O
fundamental	O
questions	O
about	O
RNA	O
folding	O
mechanics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
top	O
voted	O
designs	O
are	O
synthesized	O
in	O
a	O
Stanford	O
biochemistry	O
lab	O
to	O
evaluate	O
the	O
folding	O
patterns	O
of	O
the	O
RNA	O
molecules	O
to	O
compare	O
directly	O
with	O
the	O
computer	O
predictions	O
,	O
ultimately	O
improving	O
the	O
computer	B-Application
models	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ultimately	O
,	O
Eterna	B-Application
researchers	O
hope	O
to	O
determine	O
a	O
"	O
complete	O
and	O
repeatable	O
set	O
of	O
rules	O
"	O
to	O
allow	O
the	O
synthesis	O
of	O
RNAs	O
that	O
consistently	O
fold	O
in	O
expected	O
shapes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eterna	B-Application
project	O
leaders	O
hope	O
that	O
determining	O
these	O
basic	O
principles	O
may	O
facilitate	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
RNA-based	O
nanomachines	O
and	O
switches	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eterna	B-Application
creators	O
have	O
been	O
pleasantly	O
surprised	O
by	O
the	O
solutions	O
of	O
Eterna	B-Application
players	O
,	O
particularly	O
those	O
of	O
non-researchers	O
whose	O
"	O
creativity	O
is	O
n't	O
constrained	O
by	O
what	O
they	O
think	O
a	O
correct	O
answer	O
should	O
look	O
like	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2016	O
,	O
Eterna	B-Application
has	O
about	O
250,000	O
registered	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Eterna	B-Application
,	O
different	O
restrictions	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
those	O
on	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
certain	O
bases	O
and	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
the	O
three	O
base	O
pair	O
types	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
locked	O
bases	O
,	O
are	O
sometimes	O
imposed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eterna	B-Application
puzzles	O
are	O
roughly	O
classified	O
into	O
three	O
types	O
:	O
Challenges	O
,	O
Player	O
Puzzles	O
,	O
and	O
Cloud	O
Lab	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Challenges	O
are	O
the	O
puzzles	O
prepared	O
by	O
the	O
game-makers	O
to	O
introduce	O
players	O
to	O
the	O
workings	O
of	O
Eterna	B-Application
as	O
well	O
as	O
to	O
provide	O
series	O
of	O
pre-set	O
puzzles	O
for	O
players	O
to	O
attempt	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
completing	O
the	O
30	O
puzzles	O
and	O
earning	O
all	O
five	O
Eterna	B-Application
Essentials	O
badges	O
,	O
players	O
gain	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
Cloud	O
Lab	O
where	O
they	O
can	O
participate	O
in	O
laboratory	O
research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2016	O
,	O
Eterna	B-Application
launched	O
its	O
first	O
biomedical	O
challenge	O
called	O
OpenTB	O
,	O
an	O
initiative	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
new	O
diagnostic	O
device	O
for	O
tuberculosis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
success	O
of	O
OpenTB	O
,	O
Eterna	B-Application
launched	O
OpenCRISPR	O
in	O
August	O
2017	O
,	O
which	O
challenges	O
players	O
to	O
design	O
single	O
guide	O
RNAs	O
(	O
sgRNAs	O
)	O
used	O
in	O
CRISPR	O
gene	O
editing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
the	O
SARS-CoV-2	O
epidemic	O
,	O
Eterna	B-Application
joined	O
the	O
OpenVaccine	O
collaboration	O
to	O
develop	O
methods	O
for	O
stabilizing	O
mRNA	O
molecules	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
stored	O
and	O
shipped	O
without	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
deep	O
freezing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2019	O
,	O
Eterna	B-Application
launched	O
the	O
ribosome	O
engineering	O
project	O
OpenRibosome	O
in	O
collaboration	O
with	O
the	O
Jewett	O
Lab	O
at	O
Northwestern	O
University	O
to	O
enhance	O
the	O
folding	O
of	O
modified	O
Escherichia	O
coli	O
ribosomes	O
on	O
the	O
iSAT	O
cell-free	O
ribosome	O
construction	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2014	O
,	O
the	O
results	O
from	O
Eterna	B-Application
have	O
been	O
published	O
in	O
the	O
PNAS	O
journal	O
,	O
with	O
"	O
Eterna	B-Application
participants	O
"	O
listed	O
as	O
co-authors	O
in	O
the	O
paper	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Eterna	B-Application
gamers	O
beat	O
the	O
supercomputer-powered	O
algorithms	O
in	O
solving	O
all	O
the	O
100	O
RNA	O
secondary	O
structure	O
design	O
challenges	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
best	O
score	O
of	O
the	O
six	O
algorithms	O
used	O
is	O
54	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Eterna	B-Application
researchers	O
hope	O
that	O
by	O
integrating	O
their	O
strategies	O
into	O
algorithms	O
,	O
improvement	O
in	O
automated	O
RNA	O
secondary	O
structure	O
design	O
can	O
be	O
achieved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eterna	B-Application
citizen	O
scientists	O
discovered	O
a	O
discrepancy	O
in	O
SHAPE	O
and	O
DMS	O
chemical	O
probing	O
when	O
reading	O
strings	O
of	O
7+	O
adenosine	O
,	O
and	O
subsequently	O
published	O
their	O
findings	O
in	O
Biochemistry	O
.	O
</s>
