A Serious Game for Public Engagement in Synthetic Biology

Science gamification is an alternative way of science communication aimed to enhance public engagement in the dialog between scientists and broad audiences. This approach conveys information through an informal environment where individuals are more likely to engage in new knowledge areas. One of such new areas is synthetic biology, which aims to apply engineering principles to biology and create new biological parts or systems, or re-design existing biological systems for useful purposes. Biofaction developed the educational game SYNMOD, aimed to communicate basic scientific principles of synthetic biology, in an entertaining and engaging way. The game is based on the SYNMOD project, which aimes to design and produce novel antibiotic molecules. The aim of the game is to help memorize the names and 1-letter codes of 20 standard amino acids, provide additional information about amino acids, explain the modularity of lantibiotic synthesis, and stimulate further interest to synthetic biology among players.