Playing a Game to Advance Studies on Cancer Cells

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https://genigmagame.app/en/

Researchers from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG), and game professionals collaborated to develop a videogame that will help advance research on cancer cells.

The game is called GENIGMA and consists of solving a puzzle. That puzzle has “a string of blocks of different colours and shapes. Each string represents a genetic sequence in the cancer cell line, and how players organise the blocks is a potential solution to the location of genes.”
The first step of the game consists of mapping the T-47D breast cancer cell line, a cell line frequently used in cancer research. The players’ data will help create the genomic reference maps.

The game launched on January 27, 2022, and gamers can now enter the #GenigmaChallenge. As mentioned by Oriol Ripoll, gamers will help advance medical research and learn about science simultaneously.

Early Study of New CAR-T Cell Shows Promising Results

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A study by MSK researchers in Nature Chemical Biology describes the development of a new class of cell that may boost treatment options for certain cancers and other diseases, one of a number of new advances in the field of chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) therapy.

CAR-T cells are engineered from a patient’s own cells and used to activate an immune response against cancer. As described by Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News and The Science Advisory Board, the new synthetic enzyme-armed killer (SEAKER) cells described in the study overcome many of the limitations of current CAR-T cell therapies. In an animal model, the researchers successfully engineered the cells to produce AMS, a natural anti-cancer compound, at the cancer site.

The researchers plan to further develop SEAKER cells for use in human clinical trials in two to three years.