Help Real-World Research in Borderlands 3 Mini-Game, Borderlands Science

Yesterday, Borderlands 3 released a fantastic new mini-game called Borderlands Science, giving us the opportunity to help in scientific research being done on gut health in the real world. How can we help in this endeavour? By playing an arcade game.

Help Real-World Research in Borderlands 3 Mini-Game, Borderlands Science

Borderlands 3 has teamed up with McGill University, Massively Multiplayer Online Science, and The Microsetta Initiative to bring us Borderlands Science, an arcade-style mini-game in which we match blocks. By playing this game, we will be helping scientific research conducted in the real world. As well as contributing to scientific research, we can earn unique in-game rewards. So, how do we play the game, and how does it help in the research?

Borderlands Science presents you with simple block puzzles based on strands of DNA, and by solving them you’re helping to map and compare the microbes contained therein. 

How Do We Play the Game?

The Borderlands Science arcade machine can be found in Doctor Tannis’ infirmary aboard Sanctuary III. After a detailed introduction by the neuroscientist and American actress, Mayim Bialik, we are taken through the basics of the game. Using different coloured blocks that represent strands of DNA, we must push up each block to correspond with the matching faces. Each successful pairing raises the progress metre at the bottom of the screen. Once we’ve reached our target, we can progress to the next level. You won’t always be able to match every tile, but as long as the metre is full, you can advance.

How Is This Helping Research?

Computers have made many mistakes in the past when trying to map microbes and our DNA. What the Borderlands Science mini-game aims to do is help them correctly organise the data, and make the search for answers quicker. Many diseases are linked with the health of our gut, like diabetes, depression, autism, anxiety, and obesity. Research like this can help scientists find out more about these links, and further the progress in understanding and treatments. 

Borderlands 3 is available on PC (Steam and Epic Store), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

×