Let's Play Cell: Developing a Computer Game to Teach Cell Organelles, Poster 16

Understanding cellular biology is fundamental to medicine and biology research and is a major focus of introductory biology classes. Cells have many component parts and learning their structure and function is critical to... [ view full abstract ]

Understanding cellular biology is fundamental to medicine and biology research and is a major focus of introductory biology classes. Cells have many component parts and learning their structure and function is critical to being able to understand how they work (or don’t work). Two dimensional textbook drawings of the organelles (the component parts) and how they pack into a cell are are unable to give a good sense of the relative size and complexity of the 3 dimensional cell. Viewing slides of cells and their organelles with Vickie Backus allowed me to have a deeper understanding of the 3 dimensional structure of these organelles, and have a more informed approach at designing them for this game. 

With a better knowledge of these cellular components and experience in the Animation Studio, I have programmed a computer game using Unity3D and Blender models that allows the gamer to navigate inside the cell. The game also prompts the user with relevant questions in order to be able to leave the cell and return to the real world.