Its an interesting idea. Instead of an arbitrary proof of work scheme, why not work on solving a problem that has some utility. as an example (i know its not a good one because this particular example wouldn't work but its just to convey a point) we could be attempting to solve pi. You could prove that you worked hard by discovering a previously undiscovered digit of pi (hence the proof of work) while adding something of value to the scientific community at the same time.
You really can't do that with something like protein folding simulations (I would know, I've worked in the field for three years...). In fact, most scientific problems involve calculations applied to stochastic problems where they don't necessarily know what the results will be. The only way I can think of is to just use a ripple like system where whatever at home gives you credits based upon your solutions being provided to them. But it's not necessarily a bad answer to this problem, it's better than folding and getting nothing but points on a leaderboard.
If opencoin just released their source code you could directly port it and then use it to make a network like ripple for your coins -- but they haven't.