combating cancer with Crowdsourcing Approach

An online game to help finalize the structure of a human gene that triggers the disease. Users aligning genetic sequences using the best tools available for this task - the human eye.


No raging monster, brain-eating zombies, or bloody blast here. There is no violence or aggression of any kind. "Phylo" much more serious than that. All three students are working to solve the puzzle of DNA; to determine mutations in the human genetic code that causes cancer and other human disorders.

DNA sequence alignment is what "phylo" - developed by McGill researcher Jerome Waldispuhl and Mathieu Blanchette - is all about.

By aligning the homologous DNA sequences of humans and various other species, gamers isolates mutations in the human version of that potentially induce genetic damage.
Spiral DNA.

Mutations in the DNA sequence can lead to diseases such as cancer

Nothing beats the human eye

Accumulation of mutations in the "highly conserved" genes that have been around for thousands of millions of years, as far as the birth of the fungus, usually pieces of code that triggers the disease in humans or allow them to go forward. Spotting a candidate mutation in the sequence database - build them right "architecture" - because it is the obvious thing to do.

But the process of finding the optimal solution is complex, another contributor to "phylo it" development. Supercomputers do a great job of parsing the raw DNA alignments for a good fit, from which human differences - mutations - can be inferred. This could involve a simple transposition of one of the four DNA "letters" (A, G, C, T), and shifts involving more complex piece of code inserted or deleted ("indels") that throw version is not at all parallel to one each other.

When it comes to fine tuning, though, there's nothing like the human eye. After all, humans can distinguish facial features and vocals that fly directly overhead computer. The human eye is nothing short of brilliant. This is where games like "phylo" entry

Distinguishing eyes focused, "phylo" player alignments derived researching computer that has turned into a puzzle. Each puzzle consists of a set of nucleotide sequences of DNA that has been turned into blocks of color, representing pieces of DNA code that humans and other animal species have in common.

Solve the puzzle

Each row in the "phylo" game is a different version of the code somewhere in the phylogenetic tree - of mice, rats, snakes, insects or other creatures - each with its own unique gaps, insertions and deletions that dispose of in accordance with the above and below.
Three students sitting in front of laptop.

McGill Students contribute to gather information about genetic diseases by playing "phylo"

Rats in the hand or fingers on the touchpad, a "phylo" player colorful blocks slide this way and that, in every row, align them as best they can, in the name of the researcher who submitted the gene, and science in general.

In exchange for their time and visual intuition, "phylo" players like Debron, Luke and Paula will be quoted in future scientific papers only as "phylo users." Anonymous gamers around the world have solved nearly a quarter million phylo puzzles, involving a variety of related genetic disorders, demonstrating once again the power of crowd-sourcing in the advancement of science and technology.