Gamers around the world are being enlisted to help further breast cancer research – by solving puzzles to generate real-world data.
The GENIGMA game is the result of a three-and-a-half year long citizen research project developed by a team at Barcelona’s Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG) alongside pro gamers.
The game has been designed to boost worldwide research efforts that depend on cancer cell lines, which scientists use to study cancer and trial new drugs to treat the disease.
However, cancer cell lines lack high-resolution genome maps, which are essential in helping researchers interpret their findings.
ICREA Research Professor Marc A. Marti-Renom, explained:
“Cell lines are responsible for the discovery of vaccines, chemotherapies for cancer or IVF for infertility. This makes them a pillar of modern biology.
“However, the lack of genome reference maps limits current scientific progress. It’s like asking people to navigate modern cities using maps from the past.
“With the help of other people, we can update these maps, which will allow us to make fast progress in breast cancer research.”
The researchers have developed methods to create genomic reference maps by visualising the genome in three-dimensional space.
However, training the artificial intelligence (AI) is a significant drain on resources.
It is hoped that the data generated by GENIGMA could be a more effective way to update reference maps than AI alone.
Meanwhile, the ‘herd intelligence’ of players could provide its own unique creative solutions.
To play the game, players have to solve a puzzle involving a string of blocks in various colours and shapes.
Each string represents a genetic sequence within the cancer cell line and how players organise the blocks is a potential solution to the location of genes.
Players have to reorganise the blocks to get the highest score they can.
The higher number of players and high scores, the higher the likelihood that the researchers have found the correct sequence for this particular location in the reference map.
Elisabetta Broglio, citizen science facilitator at the CRG, said:
“Anyone with a smartphone from anywhere in the world can download GENIGMA for free and make a direct contribution to research, lending their logic and dexterity to the service of science.
“GENIGMA will analyse the solutions provided by the players as a collective and not as individuals, and will take advantage of creative solutions impossible to find with deterministic algorithms.”
GENIGMA is out now on iOS and Android.