What if video games could help scientists research genes and diseases? The video game industry has continued to grow over the past decade. Although many consider them simple entertainment, citizen science has taken it a step further. They can dive into genomics, for example, the discipline that has revolutionized medicine since the early 2000s, when the human genome was sequenced for the first time . The production of genetic data has increased exponentially with new DNA sequencing technologies , allowing researchers to unravel unknowns about genetic diseases, the diversity of microorganisms, or the design of new drugs. The massive production of genetic big data has driven the development of all kinds of computer tools capable of evaluating millions of DNA sequences (equivalent to millions of megabytes) in the most efficient way. However, the huge amount of data generated still requires people in charge of comparing the tasks performed by computers.

What are citizen science video games?

With more than 3.7 billion users worldwide , video games have become a unique opportunity to engage the general public through mini-games that “hide” tasks that are impossible for a single person to complete. It all began 16 years ago with Foldit , an online computer game that consists of predicting protein folding thanks to human creativity and intuition, capable of searching for patterns even without understanding their complexity. Since then, video games have been used to analyze all kinds of scientific data. For microbiology lovers, there is Colony B , a mobile game in which you have to cultivate and identify groups of bacteria. This is just one of the titles developed by McGill University, a pioneer in creating games that use scientific data to help society. In the field of neuroscience, EyeWire is a 3D puzzle where we have to color neurons from real microscopy images that help reconstruct three-dimensional models of the brain. In Spain, the Centre for Genomic Research (CIG) group launched the pilot project Genigma in 2022 , a mobile application that aims to discover genetic alterations in cancer cells. To achieve this, its creators fragmented the DNA of healthy and malignant cells into small pieces and converted them into pieces that could be compared visually.

The microorganisms in your gut

Now, the famous Borderlands 3 , a first-person shooter video game with role-playing elements developed by Gearbox Software, which has accumulated millions of sales since its launch, has included a citizen science game as part of its story for the first time. Borderlands Science is a minigame designed to help decipher the evolutionary history of the microorganisms in our gut. The microbiome plays a key role in the proper functioning of our digestive and immune systems. Currently, the analysis of its DNA allows us to delve deeper into its evolution and the relationship it has with our health. To do this, the researchers collected thousands of DNA samples from fecal samples and divided them into “puzzles.” In each puzzle, DNA strands are displayed as bricks. Similar to games like Tetris or Candy Crash , in each level the player must compare different sequences of “bricks” to put them in their correct position. This seemingly simple task helps researchers identify errors in DNA alignments performed automatically by computers. The results of this project, led by McGill University, have recently been published in the journal Nature Biotechnology . The statistics are clear: since 2020, more than 4 million players have solved more than 135 million scientific puzzles. Furthermore, alignments achieved through human intelligence have improved the results of computer programs. This is important, since “ human intelligence ” is becoming essential in helping us perfect the “artificial intelligence” algorithms that are so popular. The challenge now is to get more and more gamers to participate in this type of project where science is closer to us than ever before. Author Bios: Carolina Ropero Perez is a Biotechnologist at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC) at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and Antonella Locascio is Professor, Cellular, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at CEU Cardenal Herrera University