Forget Farmville, here鈥檚 a game that drives genetic research
不良研究所 researchers develop game that uses players鈥� moves to
analyze genetic sequences
Playing online can mean more than killing time, thanks to a new
game developed by a team of bioinformaticians at 不良研究所.
Now, players can contribute in a fun way to genetic research.
鈥淭here are some calculations that the human brain does more
efficiently than any computer can, such as recognizing a face,鈥�
explained lead researcher Dr. J茅r么me Waldispuhl of the School of
Computer Science. 鈥淩ecognizing and sorting the patterns in the
human genetic code falls in that category. Our new online game
enables players to have fun while contributing to genetic research
鈥� players can even choose which genetic disease they want to help
decode.鈥� The game is called Phylo and can be played at .
The game has been tested within the scientific community to ensure
its accuracy, but was officially launched today at 11 a.m. 鈥淲e鈥檙e
hoping that people will enjoy playing the game and that many
participants will sign up,鈥� Waldisp眉hl said. 鈥淭his is an
opportunity for people to use their free time to contribute in an
extremely important way to medical research.鈥� Many human diseases
are caused by defects in the DNA code, and researchers are only
just beginning to unravel this link.
Beyond offering the general public an opportunity to get involved
in this research, the game is also useful for teaching the next
generation of genetics researchers about their field. 鈥淭he precise
genetic cause of most diseases is not known, but thanks to Phylo
gamers, this research could be significantly improved,鈥� said Dr.
Alain Denise, a Bioinformatics and Computational Biology researcher
at the University of Paris-Sud 11.
The researchers have their sights set high for the future of the
game. 鈥淲e would like to integrate this game directly into Facebook
as an application. Farmville, move over!鈥�
For more information:
Phylo 鈥� a game which enables you to sort genetic code:
不良研究所鈥檚 School of Computer Science:
Computational Structural Biology Group:
不良研究所 Centre for Bioinformatics: /mcb/