Children of the Sorghum
The Murphy Research Group at Centenary College of Louisiana
Cell Bio Arcade 2021
Our Cell Biology class usually makes biology board games at the end of the semester and we invite the campus to play. Due to COVID19, we had to do things a little differently. This fall BIOL204 students learned the basic elements of coding to make online games using Scratch!
Try them out and let us know what you think!
Click the title of each game below to open it in a new window and play!
Instructions
To play the game first game simply move the arrow keys to move the sprite to collect the 3 molecules. Then go to the center strand to bring your 3 dimers to the microtubule. If the red GTP touches lines of the maze, it will relocate back to the entrance. If you do not collect all three dimers and bring it to the microtubule in time, the game will reset. For the second game use the A and D keys to collect 26 red and blue molecules, but if you catch a green dimer the game will start over.
Notes and Credits
Our game is called Microtubule Mayhem and from our topic of the cytoskeleton, we based the game on the catastrophe and recovery events that occur when lengthening and shortening microtubules. The goal of the first game is to collect the beta GTP (blue) using its conjugate alpha GTP (red) to create a dimer. Then, collect the two other dimers within the maze. To play the game simply move the arrow keys to move the sprite to collect the 3 molecules. Then go to the center strand to bring your 3 dimers to the microtubule. If the red GTP touches lines of the maze, it will relocate back to the entrance. If you do not collect all three dimers and bring it to the microtubule in time, the game will reset. After successfully collecting all three dimers’, the next game will represent the building of the microtubule. Using the A and D keys, collect 24 red and blue molecules representing the tubulin dimers, but if you catch a green dimer a catastrophe event is triggered. This causes the microtubule to fall apart and your game to start over.
Instructions
Our topic was DNA Structure and Replication. In the game, you build a DNA molecule by matching base pairs. The base pairing is Adenine (A) to Thymine (T) and Guanine (G) to Cytosine (C). Then, you go through the basic events of replication and assist the enzymes that make it happen. The goal is to replicate your DNA molecule. (instructions are built into the gameplay)
Instructions
In this game, the player will need to help sort parts of the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is highly important to the cell. It gives the cell its shape and organizes the cell by helping organelles to their designated location. The object of this first level is to sort the dynein and kinesin proteins, which both help to move vesicles within the cell. Kinesin should be traveling away from the center of the cell, and dynein should be traveling towards the center of the cell. In order to play, you'll need to click and identify the correct motor protein when asked a question. In the second part of the game, the player will need to identify vesicles travelling to different locations, similar to the first part of the game. Vesicles are a mechanism of transport within cells. Have fun!
Instructions
Overview: The purpose of this game is to remember the structure of DNA, and which bases pair to each other. Also, remember the process that occurs to make two different strands in the last level is DNA Replication. When does replication happen? ONLY WHEN A CELL DIVIDES! Instructions: Level 1: Drag the nucleotide bases in the bank to their complementary base to make a pair. If there is a popping sound and the match count goes up, you've made a correct pair! Remember to match the pairs in an antiparallel manner, from the bottom to the top. 4 pairs complete this level, hit the “1” key on your keyboard to advance to level 2. Level 2: Do the same thing you did for level 1, but make 8 base pairs. Once the 8 pairs have been made, hit the “2” key on your keyboard to advance to the 3rd and final level. Level 3: Make 16 pairs (2 strands of 8 pairs). Hit the “3” key to see the complete screen.
Notes and Credits
The sounds and background used for this game come from the famed video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, so big thanks to them for an awesome soundtrack! Also another shoutout for Dr. Dre, too. (plz nobody sue us)
Instructions
Use A, S, W, and D to move the lysosome. Use the mouse to point the lysosome in the direction you want. Clicking the mouse shoots enzymes that recycle cell waste or help degrade harmful bacteria! Careful! Don't let the bacteria hit the lysosome!
Instructions
To begin the game press the green flag Then, collect the CO2 and H2O molecules by using the spacebar to jump and the right/left arrow keys to move After you have collected the CO2 and H2O, click the sun once to give the flower energy To release the O2 and use the C6H12O6 molecule, click on the flower Photosynthesis is now complete and so is the game! Press the green flag to play again
Instructions
To start the game, click the green flag. You are the COVID virus and must travel through the airway, without touching the black, until you reach the cells in the lungs, the white dots. Once you have reached the cells in the lungs, you'll reach a closer version of what happens. The COVID must attach to the ACE2 receptor without touching the black and travel through the cell. Multiple copies of the virus are made and eventually pushed to the outer edges of the cell membrane, you must get through the cell and reach the white part of the cell membrane. Congratulations, once you have reached the white outer edge of the membrane, you have infiltrated the body!
Notes and Credits
COVID enters through the nose or mouth. Once COVID enters it'll travel through the body, where it begins to infect our airways. COVID attaches to the ACE2 receptor, that triggers the process. RNA acts as a molecular message that instructs ribosomes to translate and new proteins that are virus particles. The human body continues to produce copies of the virus and pushes them towards the outer edges of the cell to release them. Infected cells can infect other cells as well as other people through droplets released when coughing and sneezing.
Instructions
Click the green flag then click the screen to begin. Drag the sprite to match the pairs (C-G and U-A) to get points and watch your protein grow! 20 points=a protein.
Notes and Credits
Thank you to Watson and Crick (and everyone whose work they used) for developing central dogma.
Instructions
To start the game, click on the green flag. Once the game has started, press the space bar to make Gobo jump over the moving obstacles. For normal, non-biologist gamers, it may seem like you are jumping over random letters. However, these letters represent the four nitrogenous bases. The more letters you successfully jump over, the more proteins you are coding for. If Gobo happens to collide with a base, click the green flag to start over. Win the game by successfully jumping over 15 nitrogenous bases and code 5 proteins!
Instructions
Merry Transcription! Help complete initiation, elongation, and termination! Level 1: Break the Hydrogen bonds between the complementary base pairs. Aim with your mouse and press the space bar to shoot apart all 4 base pairs before time runs out. Level 2: Match complementary base pairs. Use the arrow keys to decorate the tree. Click the ornament to make it stick. When all 4 ornaments have been placed click the STAR to move on. Level 3: Help RNA Polymer-Rudolph catch 10 stop sign terminators while dodging the nucleotides. Use the arrow keys to move Rudolph. Only terminators increase your score, nucleotides decrease your score. Dodge those colored nucleotides, Rudolph!
Instructions
Welcome to the cell! Make your way as a small, lipid molecule around through the endomembrane system to the nucleus (the organelle with the star on it!) using the arrow keys. Make sure to play all three levels! Don't run into the sides... or you'll have to start over!