There's a game out there that has a strong, competitive online community. It has guilds, ranks and a following of addicted gamers. Oh you mean World of Warcraft? Or maybe everyone already jumped to Star Wars: The Old Republic. No, this MMO is not of the role playing variety, but of puzzle solving.

Foldit is a 3-D puzzle game that attempts to predict the structure of a protein. Scientists are seeking to build computer programs that simulate all the different ways a protein can fold in order to understand how it works and how to effectively target it with drugs, vis-a-vis – curing diseases. Gamers are helping that happen.

Foldit is free to download and basically gives the user a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle to solve by manipulating the parts of the protein chain to separate 'clashes' and fill 'voids'. Every time the goal is achieved, that information is gathered by the game's online servers and contributes to the program that is trying to chart all the possible shapes – something that would take the lifetime of a researcher with the current data. You see, computers can do a lot great things (like let us play great games) but they are not smart like humans. Humans are able to think and solve special problems relatively easily, which is why they are the most effective research tool for a project such as this.

University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine recently blogged this message to Foldit players:

"The Foldit group has recently demonstrated that focused play can achieve results that have eluded structural biologists for over a decade. Congratulations on your efforts! Our next set of puzzles focuses on another significant real-world problem that has tremendous potential for curing a wide range of diseases using stem cell therapy. ”

So what separates us Halo-wielding Neanderthals from the Foldit elite? Majority of players are not people with scientist backgrounds but those with enhanced spacial perception. But they behave just like gamers; they are willing to spend hours in front of a screen in their spare time, they have addictive personalities and they like winning. The only difference is while we escape the world's problems by losing ourselves in our virtual worlds, they are contributing to eventual leaps in modern medicine.

I downloaded Foldit for my PC and decided to give it a go. The problem is that I've never had great spacial perception like that, I've caught myself running in circles in open world computer games computer games and I seemed to in Foldit as well. Plus after years of shooting and watching things blow up in my games, the rewards of solving the jigsaw puzzle didn't really hit a home run with me. I wanted to be better at it and help the cause, but I just wasn't very good at those puzzles.

But every one is different. You may try this game out of curiosity and find yourself completely addicted. Kind of like some people that get Twitter and some that just don't understand what its about. One big trump card that Foldit has over all our self indulgent past time is that every minute you spend playing this game, you are helping make the world a better place.

Is there any way these algorithms can be embedded into the dragon battles of Skyrim? If the mainstream gaming audience could be tapped by such a method surely there would be greater surges in technology. Until that time comes we'll have to settle for virtual tech in our virtual worlds.

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The Voice is a weekly column written by Vince Shuley. He focuses on how our culture is affected by games and the game industry. Each week he will be exploring how games are changing and how it impacts us as a society.

Catch up with these past The Voice columns:

Back to the Future:

Domo Arigato, Mr Miyamoto:

Retro Rules!:

Gaming in Moderation: Why I'm Not Playing Skyrim:

The PC is Dead. Long Live the PC:

Gamers this is you time: