Cancer Research UK has appointed games and software development agency Guerilla Tea, to develop the charity's first mobile phone game, to accurately locate new genetic causes of cancer, thus boosting potential new cures.
Based on the terms of the agreement, the agency will work closely with Cancer Research UK's scientists to develop a game, dubbed as GeneGame.
The proposed game, which is expected to be launched later this year, can be played by anybody having a smart phone to examine Cancer Research UK's gene data.
Dundee-based Guerilla Tea, which develops mobile, handheld and online games, was hired by Cancer Research UK with help from games expert Channel 4's games commissioner Colin Macdonald.
Cancer Research UK citizen science lead Amy Carton said that the organisation is impressed by the initial format produced by Guerilla Tea and it is excited about seeing the final result.
"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.
The researchers at the Cancer Research UK are busy in discovering new ways to treat patients in a more targeted way based on their genetic fingerprint, but it requires huge volume of data analysis.
