Using video games to help with scientific research is not a new concept, but it can be an effective tool when handled properly. That is the hope for the genigma, a new puzzle game developed by researchers from the Nacional D’Anàlisi GenoMica (CNAG) Center (CNAG) and Centro De Regulation of GenóMica (CRG) in Barcelona, in collaboration with the Studio Development of X-Lives Interactive Game Game S.L. The aim is basically the help of outsourcing for cancer research by asking players to solve puzzles, with solutions for puzzles that act as data points.
Per creator in CRG, Genigma is the result of two and a half years working from various teams, with more than 500 people – from artists and students to journalists and medical professionals – coming together through various workshops to make it happen.
Genigma is available for download now from the App Store and Google Play as a free download. Know that, because of the nature of the game intention for research purposes, it will collect user data, use, and diagnostic data from your device.
How does it work?
Each level in the genigma function is part of a larger puzzle, with millions of parts that need to be united to provide information that will help create a more effective way to update the genome reference map. In other words, such as the Captcha medical research version, but instead of identifying buses or road marks to help AI learn how to identify these objects, you help AI learn how to map cancer cell lines and, theoretically, help with health care research front.
For the next three months (until April 2022), the genigma will carry out sustainable challenges every Monday, and focus on the T-47D breast cancer cell line. Every Monday is a new set of genome fragments of the cell line will be added, with players need to reset the fragment to complete the puzzle. The Genigma Research Team estimates that, if as little as 30 thousand players must complete 50 or more puzzles, it can be enough data to disclose a 20 thousand genes reference maps that are different from the T-47D cell line.
Assuming the campaign of the first cell line research map goes well, the genigma is likely to start adding other cell lines in the future.