Millions of Borderlands 3 Players Are Now Collectively Listed as Contributors to a Peer Reviewed Scientific Paper

ign.com:

In April 2020, Borderlands 3 developer Gearbox Software teamed up with a group of biomedical researchers - and Big Bang Theory actress/scientist Mayim Bialik - to create a novel minigame for the popular looter shooter with a unique scientific twist.

The goal of the Borderlands Science project was to harness the entertainment value of video games to convert player enthusiasm into valuable real-world scientific data, which could be used by biologists to shed light on the complex microbial ecosystem within the human body.

Each and every one of us plays host to tens of trillions of microbes, which have a profound impact on our overall health and which may even influence the onset of a range of serious medical conditions and diseases, including Alzheimer’s. These bacteria are extremely diverse, right down to the DNA level, and have been known to change their characteristics based on what we eat, the amount of exercise we get, and a range of other factors.

Despite decades of research, the incredible diversity of this biological ecosystem has prevented scientists from gaining more than a limited understanding as to how different microbes influence the human body. To make matters worse, computer categorizations of the molecules' DNA are often marred with inaccuracies, owing to the innate complexity of the subject matter. This results in masses of DNA data seeded with tiny errors that have the potential to throw off the results of subsequent studies that incorporated it.

Thankfully, an adjunct professor at Canada’s McGill University by the name of Attila Szantner came up with a novel approach to fixing the countless computer errors, which would require the help of millions of enthusiastic gamers. To convert the concept into a reality, Szantner and a team of like-minded colleagues partnered with Gearbox to develop a brand new, seamlessly integrated minigame for Borderlands 3.

Together, the team were able to create an enjoyable puzzle game that incorporated sections of real-world