A new game aims to raise awareness of the growing threat of superbugs - antibiotic-resistant bacteria that could cause serious health problems for humanity in the near future. Developed by Preloaded, Superbugs puts players in charge of battling rapidly mutating bacteria in a Petri dish. As cells replicate, you administer doses of antibiotics to wipe them out, leaving only the resistant red cells.
Gameplay consists of keeping the dish clear, while a timer counts down on new drug research to wipe out the stronger strains. Chillingly, given the game is meant to mirror the real-world battle against superbugs, defeat is inevitable, as bacteria multiplies and mutates faster than research - or you, as the player - can keep up with.
The mobile game launches in partnership with the Longitude Prize, a five-year challenge with a £10 million prize fund which aims to solve the problem of global antibiotic resistance.
Make no mistake, this is a major challenge facing the world's healthcare authorities. At the end of 2015, bacteria resistant to colistin were discovered. As colistin is considered a "last resort" for treatment of strains that have grown immune to other antibiotics, this is a significant problem. Without constant research and development of new drugs, some projections forecast up to 10m deaths per year by 2050.
"We know our daily behaviours - like sharing and overusing antibiotics - can lead to bacteria becoming drug-resistant, so it's really important we increase awareness around this huge issue," said Longitude Prize spokesperson Tamar Ghosh. "It's especially important to reach young people and games like this are a fantastic way of doing that."
Superbugs, available now for Android and iOS devices, is aimed at improving basic scientific understanding of how bacteria mutate and become drug-resistant, while reinforcing how small changes in human behaviour - such as proper consumption of prescribed antibiotics - can slow their spread.
Superbugs takes the complex science behind the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria and models it as a casual mobile game that's not only great fun to play but scientifically sound," said Phil Stuart, Creative Director of Preloaded. "Games are the perfect medium to reach millions of people and make complex ideas understandable."
The Longitude Prize launched in 2014, seeking ideas on how to tackle the rise of drug-resistant bacteria - ideally, "a diagnostic tool that can rule out antibiotic use or help identify an effective antibiotic to treat a patient." While Superbugs alone won't do that, the hope is it gets more people thinking about the problem - and a solution.
Contributed by wired.co.uk
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The mobile game launches in partnership with the Longitude Prize, a five-year challenge with a £10 million prize fund which aims to solve the problem of global antibiotic resistance.
Make no mistake, this is a major challenge facing the world's healthcare authorities. At the end of 2015, bacteria resistant to colistin were discovered. As colistin is considered a "last resort" for treatment of strains that have grown immune to other antibiotics, this is a significant problem. Without constant research and development of new drugs, some projections forecast up to 10m deaths per year by 2050.
"We know our daily behaviours - like sharing and overusing antibiotics - can lead to bacteria becoming drug-resistant, so it's really important we increase awareness around this huge issue," said Longitude Prize spokesperson Tamar Ghosh. "It's especially important to reach young people and games like this are a fantastic way of doing that."
Superbugs, available now for Android and iOS devices, is aimed at improving basic scientific understanding of how bacteria mutate and become drug-resistant, while reinforcing how small changes in human behaviour - such as proper consumption of prescribed antibiotics - can slow their spread.
Superbugs takes the complex science behind the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria and models it as a casual mobile game that's not only great fun to play but scientifically sound," said Phil Stuart, Creative Director of Preloaded. "Games are the perfect medium to reach millions of people and make complex ideas understandable."
The Longitude Prize launched in 2014, seeking ideas on how to tackle the rise of drug-resistant bacteria - ideally, "a diagnostic tool that can rule out antibiotic use or help identify an effective antibiotic to treat a patient." While Superbugs alone won't do that, the hope is it gets more people thinking about the problem - and a solution.
Contributed by wired.co.uk
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