LAB ESCAPE: Can you escape the lab?

Creating LAB ESCAPE: A Synthetic Biology Video Game

The iGEM 2012 Calgary team ventured into new territory by developing a video game centered on synthetic biology called LAB ESCAPE. As scientists, we are often asked, “What exactly do you do all day?” and “What do you mean you can see DNA?” Our video game provides an opportunity to educate and entertain the player by guiding them through a routine experiment used by the iGEM 2012 Calgary team. LAB ESCAPE focuses on gel electrophoresis – a common molecular biology technique to separate and visualize DNA from PCR and restriction digests. We also incorporated basic laboratory safety procedures to further immerse the player in the research experience.

LAB ESCAPE is part science, part fun, and all iGEM.

From Storyboard to Application

The initial stage in the development of LAB ESCAPE focused on creating an engaging environment resembling a typical synthetic biology research lab. We then created a script outlining the players actions as they find themselves locked in the lab, progress through the tasks to find the secret code, and (hopefully) escape. We originally wanted to incorporate numerous experimental techniques, but we decided to focus on one common technique - gel electrophoresis. This avoided over-whelming the player with multiple experiments and also kept the time required to an optimal level. Once the scene was set we jumped into the world of video game creation.

The iGEM 2012 Calgary team created all the graphical images for LAB ESCAPE using Adobe Illustrator. Adobe Flash was used as the platform for the programming code creating LAB ESCAPE, with some programming code being modified from open-source repositories. With these tools, we designed a ‘point-and-click’ adventure video game, where the player collects items hidden throughout the virtual environment to complete a task to obtain the code required to open the locked lab door.

After completing the first build of LAB ESCAPE, we challenged members of the iGEM 2012 Calgary team to escape from the lab. After incorporating the comments from our teammates, we then released the game to our friends, family and other willing volunteers to gather further feedback from people with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. By September 2012, we had a completely functional video game and asked if we could premiere the video game to the public at the [http://www.sparkscience.ca TELUS SPARK] science centre here in Calgary. !!!!!!! On September 29-30th we hosted an 2012 iGEM Calgary event for LAB ESCAPE, where several hundred people got to play and learn about synthetic biology – incredible fun!! !!!!!!!! We expect that several more people – scientists and non-scientists alike – will play, learn, and enjoy LAB ESCAPE as our iGEM wiki goes live in early October.

Can you escape LAB ESCAPE?

In general, LAB ESCAPE is a ‘point-and-click’ adventure. The user begins the game locked in the classroom (which is attached to the research lab) and must find a numerical code to exit. Using your cursor, you must collect DNA tubes to run the gel electrophoresis experiment (in the research lab). Once ran, the banding pattern of the DNA on the gel must match the assembled gel photo (from collected pieces throughout the two rooms) to provide a number code that unlocks the door to exit the lab.

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