Team:BIT/Game
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GAME
Introduction
The purpose of synthetic biology is to create artificial biological systems. We connect a certain amount of gene to build gene network, making them run like a circuit. According to this principle, the game players play an engineering bacterium and look for gene fragments in each level of adventure, to form a complete genetic line, so that the engineering bacteria can be changed to special bacteria that are used to solve disease or environmental problems.
The operation of this game is simple and flexible. The left key controls the role move towards left and the right key controls it move towards right. In this game, player tries to find possible solutions about the disease and environmental problems which human beings pay close attention to. The game involves the knowledge of synthetic biology, including gene lines, transformation of engineering bacteria, disease monitoring and so on, which can introduce synthetic biology to a certain amount of teenagers, and deepen their understanding of the ways to solve disease and environmental problems.
The goal of making this game is embedding science into game, to expand the accepting crowd of scientific knowledge. This game is a 2D horizontal board scroll category casual games. Each level of the game contains the method of a specific disease environmental problem, and different levels have different story backgrounds and ways of playing, which make the game become more interesting to play.
Design
Dr. Lee has troubles when he solve environmental and disease problems by transforming engineering bacteria. So he decides to ask his students Keith to use VR technology to simulate the visual angle of Escherichia coli, looking for the genetic fragments to build the right genetic route, changing the engineering bacteria to special bacteria which can solve environmental and disease problems. Dr. Lee will give instructions to Keith while he looking for genetic fragments.
Postgraduate
Dr. Lee (NPC): Our research has encountered difficulties, so I need to investigate which step has problem in the genetic line. The whole device related on simulation system based VR that it gives prominence to the operation of the user. By which I need you to play the role of Escherichia coli to discover correct gene line, and I will give you instructions in the process.
Keith(Player): Cope that.
The first level: The treatment of UITS
Principle of the level: Treating UITS according to the solution to the antibiotic resistance.
Level feature: The level is for teaching novice. Players keep walking forward and follow the instructions to collect five genetic fragments, and then reach the terminal point to finish this level. Players play engineering bacterias to find the right genetic lines, to transform it into a special strain which can detect USTC. The scene of the level is suburb during the daytime.
The second level: detecting tuberculosis.
Principle of the level: Using the genetic lines to transform the Escherichia coli which infected by λ phage into the engineering bacteria which can detect tuberculosis.
When λ phage infects the Escherichia coli, Cro starts expressing and inhibiting the expression of CI, Leading the E. coli to lysis and release λ phage.
Level feature: There is new chase system added in this level. Player not only needs to collect genetic fragments, but also must catch the λ phage which can move freely. The scene of the level is suburb at night.
The third level: detecting aromatics and caffeine.
Principle of the level: Toxicity and persistence of aromatic pollutants in the environment can cause great harm to the human body. Building aromatic compounds sensor according to the genetic route can detect 44 different kinds of aromatic compounds. TF can activate the degradation of line as a transcription factor.
Feature of the level: There is enemy which can move around in the scene, and if players touch it, the game will come to an end. The background of this level is a city with many factories. The platforms for jumping become invisible, and player can jump on the ground or roofs freely to collect genetic fragments, making people get the feeling for trying hard to seek solutions of scientific problems. The environment about factories and pollutions are related to the problem we want to solve in this level ——detect Aromatic substance, which is an environmental pollutants
The forth chapter: detecting the antibiotic in milk.
Principle of the level: Our project is centered on creating a working toggle switch which changes between two different states when chemicals are added. We started with a simple switch that utilizes two inhibitor proteins, LacI and TetR, which bind to sites on the pLac and pTet promoters, respectively. When bound to the promoter, it would not start transcription and produce the green protein. However, certain chemicals (tetracycline and IPTG) will prevent the inhibitor from binding to their respective promoters. So, the promoters are unlocked and the green fluorescence protein is produced.
Feature of the level: The level asks us to construct the biological detector for detecting antibiotic in the milk we drink every day. The background is beautiful grasslands with clouds as the platforms for jumping. However, in this relaxing environment, more enemies which have more complexed moving routes appear, symbolizing the antibiotic in milk which breaks the quality of nice stuff. Players need to jump in more difficult and complexed platforms to collect the genetic fragments while avoid enemies.
The fifth level: Artemisinin synthesis
The principle of level: Malaria is a disease transmitted by the malaria parasite and it is the parasitic disease which happened most frequently to human, resulting in more than 500 million cases and 1 million deaths per year. Artemisinin is the most effective antimalarial drug, but the artemisinin extracted from plants is few and expensive. However, scientists can make artificial artemisinin according to the knowledge of synthetic biology, and this kind of artemisinin is more cheap and effective to cure the malaria.
Features of the level: This is the most difficult level in the game. There is weapon system added in the level. Under the instruction of Lee, players need to avoid a few enemies and then jump to then platform which in the middle of the scene and obtain the weapon. Then players should use the weapon to wipe out enemies without touching them. When the player kills an enemy, the column will introduce the history about how human beings fought against malaria.
The sixth level: Detecting arsenic ions.
Principle of the level: We use the promoters which can sense the function of arsenic ions in the water to design biological sensor. The promoters can change cellular metabolic response when there are arsenic ions existing, and change the PH of the solution in the end. Theoretically, the minimum arsenic detecting limit of this arsenic ion biosensor is 5 ppb.
Feature of the level: City with many factories+weapon system+invisible platform+enemies, meaning the elements of previous levels combine together. As the arsenic ions are mostly caused by factory wastewater in the city, so we set the background of this level to city. The genetic route is more complex in this level, divided into three parts, but in order to maintain the balance of the game, the genetic fragments which players need to collect did not increase actually.
The seventh level: detecting ralstonia solanacearum of rice.
Principle of the level: We design a bacterial system which can control the cell density to detect and eliminate the damage of ralstonia solanacearum to plants. The design of the whole system is divided into two parts: a modular decive to detect disease and a constant plant-alarm device. There are two different ways to detect the disease. One detecting device is according to the fact that 3OH-PAME is the special responding molecular to ralstonia solanacearum, and the other us the device which use chitin as the index of fungal infection.
Feature of the level: To Simulate the process of infection, the level considered the design of "catch insects" game mode. Players capture the genetic fragments freely in a place full of windmills. We put artificial intelligence system in the program, so the genetic fragments can move around freely, and when players get close to them, they will escape very quickly, making the chase more difficult and interesting.
The eighth level: detecting miRNA to test breast cancer indirectly
Principle of the level: When the cancer occurs, the amount of miRNA in the body will change. So the genetic line can forecast the cancer by detecting the miRNA (the project of BIT team in 2016).
Feature of the level: The background of the level use mirror-design. The player stays in the night when the sky full of stars, but the stars which need to be collected are all hidden. The player is confused and looking for the stars in the unreal world, and the sky becomes darker and darker when time goes by. Players seem to be imprisoned in the virtual world - this is last level, in which there aren’t enemies, weapons and factories, and there are only the rules hided in the map and the target which is difficult to find. When you are looking around for a long time and find the way to success in the end, the sky has been dark and the game will end soon. And you must use the fastest speed running to the terminal point relying on the knowledge which you accumulated step by step. This is IGEM game.
Result
The software to make the game:：Flash CS6
Computer language：Actionscript
1 By setting the acceleration, gravity, speed and other physical variables, to achieve walking and jumping.
2 Because of the establishment of "collision" category, we achieve the jumping of the role on the platform.
3 We can remove or set transparency to the components to achieve the collection of items by hitTestObject method.
4 Players and the enemy's attacking methods are bullet-attacks. Weapons and bullets are written a class file respectively. Private and public properties are interrelated
Examples about codes of weapon class:
Examples about codes of bullet class:
5. Control the player's range of moving, and achieve scroll-screen movement
6 Achieving Random Motion and Environmental Detection by Artificial Intelligence
Discussion
We asked some kids to play the game and got some feedback. The names of the following respondents were all anonymous, and the respondents answered questions in Chinese, and we translated them into English.
The most interesting part of this game is the man becomes a worm (or bacteria) and I should control the worm all the time! It is so funny! The background is so simple but not ugly, so I painted a same picture after I finished this game, I think I did it well. By the way, the game is a little difficult in my opinion.
——Carol, 6 years old.
I am jumping around at the platforms because the music is so cool! I like this game, because all the things are very cute especially the green stick I control which looked like a fool. Well, seriously, I like the game because I can learn something from it. If you ask me what I have learned, I’d say I get to know biology is very using in our daily life, also I know how gene line is built.
——John, 9 years old.
The game is very easy until the fifth level in which I died for more than ten times…crazy! But the reason I didn’t give up this game is I felt I know the right way to complete this chapter and I just lose the game for careless. The last two levels are a little difficult, but you won’t lose it for times, you just need to spend some time to find the secret of these levels…Oh before you used up the time.
——Jack, 10 years old.
I played this game twice. The first time I supposed it is just a simple stuff so I pass levels very quickly without reading the words it appeared. But when I arrived at the last chapter, I stayed at the endless darkness and the music is heartbreaking. I got to know I would lose it soon then I was impressed about the student’s words. “I am not the friend of justice, and I don’t want to be the hero for human. I just work for someone who I believe in. That is how science developed.” Thanks for this game and I got new opinion about scientists and scientific work. After that I played it again and read this background knowledge carefully. I love this game, although there are some shortcomings of it.
——Rose, 12 years old.
Simple game with some bugs, but it is okay, not too serious to affect the enthusiasm of playing the game. The background knowledge and the whole story are good. The game maker can consider adding some questions about the knowledge of biology to make player reader the genetic line more carefully. The looking of roles, background pictures and music are matched well.
——Ethan, 16 years old.
Lab Note
Contact Us
Beijing Institute of Technology,
No. 5 South Zhong Guan Cun Street,
Haidian Beijing 100081, P. R. China
Twitter : @igem_BIT
Sina Weibo : @igem_BIT
Website : http://www.bit.edu.cn
