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8 Ways Crowdsourced Medicine Can Be Fun

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Hala, Oct 30, 2014.

  1. Hala

    Hala Golden Member Verified Doctor

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    Want to fight diseases from home? Crowdsourced medicine platforms are growing. More and more researchers and experts are realizing just how effective the crowd really is. The masses have the potential to decrease the time it takes for scientists to analyze data exponentially; they can recognize the 1 in a million disease that doctors couldn’t diagnose. Crowdsourcing allows anyone to contribute in their own way, and its benefits more than make up for its participants’ lack of official certification. We already use the crowd for so many things (police investigations, elections, etc.), and now medicine is getting in on the action too.

    Check out these 8 cool ways crowdsoured medicine is happening right now!


    1. MalariaSpot.org
    While playing this game, you are actually analyzing Giemsa-stained thick blood films infected with malaria. You have 1 minute to identify as many parasites as possible.

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    Combining 22 games from non-expert players achieved a parasite counting accuracy higher than 99%


    2. Phylo DNA Puzzles
    The Phylo DNA Puzzles are very addicting. You’ll find yourself struggling to figure out how to get more points, and you won’t stop until you get them. This game utilizes a participant’s ability to recognize patterns better than computers can, and challenges people to try and beat an algorithm’s score. All alignments contain sections of human DNA speculated to be linked to various genetic disorders.

    [​IMG]


    3. Crowdmed.com
    Crowd Med let’s you have fun solving rare medical mysteries. Users submit cases that doctors, oftentimes many of them, have not been able to solve. The site aims to let others diagnose rare diseases that physicians can not possibly have memorized. And medical school students are in luck with the launch of a contest offering prizes up to $10,000! Get your team together, before the August 31st deadline.

    [​IMG]
    Has saved $3,766,455 in healthcare costs


    4. AED4.US
    It’s oftentimes essential to have access to an automated external defibrillator (AED) within the first 6 minutes after someone has been hit with cardiac arrest but there was no database of AED locations until this website and app went online. It’s easy to add an AED to the map, so others can use the site or app when the time comes. This app is playing catch up in the U.S. The number of AED’s submitted is way behind Europe, where the app originated, so spread the word!

    [​IMG]


    5. Fold.it
    The objective of fold it is to fold proteins in the best way possible, including compacting, hiding hydrophobics, and clearing clashes. This allows users to contribute to an understanding of proteins that can develop into treatments or cures for diseases like HIV/AIDS, Cancer, and Alzheimer’s.

    [​IMG]
    Users decoded an AIDS-causing protein that had stumped scientists for 15 years!


    6. ClickToCure.net
    Click to Cure is the result of a partnership between Cancer Research UK and Zooniverse. Each slide you see is real cancer data. Cancer Research UK has turned to the crowd to classify thousands of slides from their huge database.

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    1,664,240 images have already been analyzed.


    Coming Soon:

    7. Brainflight.org
    This is your chance to be “one of the first brain pilots.” Set to launch later this year.


    8. GeneGame
    Cancer Research UK has a smartphone game under development that is set to release this fall.




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