Help Beat Cancer Sooner: Free Mobile Game Helps Analyze Real Genetic Cancer Data

Mapping genetic cancer data is a time consuming process for Scientists, taking up time that could be spent developing treatments for cancer. Cancer Research UK has addressed this issue by developing an innovative mobile game that enables players to help analyze real genetic cancer data without even realizing what they’re doing.

Accelerating the Development of Cancer Treatments

Play to Cure™: Genes in Space, has been designed to use the collaborative force of players to help scientists analyze real genetic cancer data, which can then be used to accelerate the development of life saving treatments.

The game’s mission finds players collecting a fictional substance, ‘Element Alpha’, which represents genetic cancer data which may underpin certain types of cancer. To progress, players must rise up the employee ranks of Bifrost Industries by mapping and following a route in space through dense areas of Element Alpha, collecting and trading the substance, as well as avoiding and destroying asteroids.

Identifying Critical Faults in Genetic Data

Scientists receive data at two key points; when players map their route through Element Alpha, and when players fly their spaceship though this course to collect the substance. By playing Genes in Space, you'll be analyzing significant amounts of real genetic data, a process which would have taken scientists many hours to do. The identification of variations in gene data can be used by Cancer Research UK scientists to work out which genes are faulty in cancer patients so that new drugs can be developed to target them, speeding the progress towards personalized medicine. Each section of gene data will be tracked by several different players to ensure accuracy.

Hannah Keartland, citizen science lead for Cancer Research UK, said: “Not only is the game great fun to play – but every single second gamers spend directly helps our work to bring forward the day all cancers are cured. Our scientists’ research produces colossal amounts of data, some of which can only be analyzed by the human eye – a process which can take years.”

“We hope thousands of people worldwide will play Play to Cure: Genes in Space as often as possible, to help our researchers get through this data.”

Genes in Space can be downloaded for free from both the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Developing the Game

Play to Cure™: Genes in Space was developed from initial ideas generated at GameJam, a weekend event held in March 2013, which saw a team of Cancer Research UK, Amazon Web Services, Facebook and Google developers join academics, scientists, gamers and designers collaborate to create a fun, engaging game that translates data. It was released on February 4th 2014, World Cancer Day.