Forget Farmville, Here's A Game That Drives Genetic Research Main Category: IT

November 30, 2010

Forget Farmville, Here's A Game That Drives Genetic Research

Playing online can mean more than killing time, thanks to a new game developed

by a team of bioinformaticians at McGill University. Now, players can contribute

in a fun way to genetic research. " There are some calculations that the human

brain does more efficiently than any computer can, such as recognizing a face, "

explained lead researcher Dr. Jérôme Waldispuhl of the School of Computer

Science. " Recognizing 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 - players can even choose which genetic disease

they want to help decode. " The game is called Phylo and can be played here.

The game has been tested within the scientific community to ensure its accuracy,

but was officially launched today at 11 a.m. " We're hoping that people will

enjoy playing the game and that many participants will sign up, " Waldispühl

said. " This is an opportunity for people to use their free time to contribute in

an extremely important way to medical research. " 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. " The precise genetic cause of most diseases is

not known, but thanks to Phylo gamers, this research could be significantly

improved, " said Dr. Alain , 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. " We would

like to integrate this game directly into Facebook as an application. Farmville,

move over! "

Source:

McGill University

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