Cancer Research UK will launch a free mobile game this autumn that will speed up the analysis of gene data, by getting the public to help as they play.

In March, 55 ‘hackers’ (computer programmers, gamers, graphic designers), along with Google, Facebook and Amazon attended Cancer Research UK's (CRUK) GameJam event to brainstorm different ways to turn the charity’s gene data into a mobile game.

As a result of the 48-hour event 12 prototypes were created, the charity’s scientists then decided which one was most likely to produce the best results and have now appointed an agency, Guerilla Tea, to develop the game known as GameGene.

Amy Carton, citizen science lead, at CRUK said: “We’re right at the start of a world-first initiative that will result in a game that we hope hundreds of thousands of people across the globe will want to play over and over again and, at the same time, generate robust scientific data analysis.”

This is CRUK’s second citizen science project – last autumn the charity launched its Cell Slider web app which members of the public can use to compare different cancer cells. So far it has been used more than 200,000 times and reached an international audience with 50 per cent of people logging onto the site coming from outside the UK.  

Dr Joanna Reynolds, director of science information, at the charity added: “With GeneGame we are being bolder, braver and bigger and we hope that by the end of the year we’ll have a game that not only is fun to play but will play a crucial role in developing new cancer cures sooner – ultimately saving lives.”