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DVG Storyboard: DNA Replication

Lisa Briona, PhD.

EDUC5466 Fall 2016

Figure 1: Main Game Screen

Goal: Players will be able to identify key enzymes and landmarks involved in
prokaryotic DNA replication.

Strand: SBI4U, Molecular Genetics, Learning Objectives D2.1 and D3.1

Software: Construct2 (scirra.com)

Scenario: The year is 3067: cancer has been eradicated from our species due to
utilization of nanobots to assist with enzymatic placement for DNA
replication. Customize your bot, then get to work! But be warned: DNA
replication must be completed accurately and timely, otherwise cancer cells
arise. Destroy the cancer cells, lest they overrun your host.

Customization: Nanobot Avatar (colour, decorations)

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User controls (left hand vs right hand setup)

Scenes: Welcome Screen

Setup (Avatar customization and control interface)
Teaching Module
Main Game
Game Over

Teaching Module: Walks players through steps of DNA replication and introduces them to the
various keys combinations to effect an action (e.g. w key places DNA
Polymerase I on DNA.

Game interface: Employs a vertical split-screen approach (Figure 1). The top part is a petri
dish of cells going through replication: green cells are normal cells; blue
cells are cells going through DNA replication and require player
intervention to continue; magenta cells are cells that have failed to correctly
complete DNA replication and are now cancerous. Magenta cells can be
destroyed by clicking on them; blue cells can be clicked on to zoom in on
their DNA in the lower part of the screen. If blue cell DNA replication
is completed successfully, they turn green again; in the event of incorrect
DNA replication they will turn magenta (cancerous).

Level 1: No cancer cells. Blue cells stay blue until DNA replication is successfully
completed. Too many blue cells in the top screen (10?) = failed to
complete the level. Successful completion of DNA replication for 10 cells
lets the player move on to Level 2.

Level 2+: Cancer cells can now appear. Blue cells can appear faster also. If 50% of
the cells in the petri dish are cancerous, then player failed to complete level
(game over).

STEM: Science (Biology: DNA replication)

Technology (digital media; player is a nanobot)
Mathematics (modeling movement of interacting cell populations)

Career Options: Molecular Biology (biological processes)

Biophysics (artificial enzymes)
Analytical Chemistry (efficacy of enzymatic processes)
BioMathematics (modeling of cell populations)

Type of Game: action strategy simulation

Pluriversality: Western Modern Science: the various proteins and nucleotides involved in
DNA replication
Ontological investment: do the cells in my petri dish live or die?
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DVG Progress Report Reflection

I chose to focus on Biology, and in particular prokaryotic DNA replication as identified in
SBI4U Learning Objectives D2.1 and D3.1: that students will be able to use appropriate
terminology related to molecular genetics such as DNA Polymerase I, DNA ligase and helicase;
and that students will be able to explain the current model of DNA replication.

In the course of this game, students will learn the key enzymes, landmarks, and order of
enzymatic activity associated with prokaryotic DNA replication. Obviously this game is heavy
on the Science component of STEM, in that were examining DNA replication. But I am also
employing technology in at least two aspects: that this is a digitized game able to be played in
any browser independent of operating system, and that the player assumes the role of an
autonomous nanobot. I am also incorporating aspects of mathematics within this game as the
petri dish is a model of cell population interactions.

The game scenario is one placed in the future: human cancer no longer exists in 3067, because
humans now rely upon nanobots to assist with DNA replication accuracy. The nanobots serve
two functions: 1) to ensure that enzymes associated with DNA replication are placed at the
correct spot on DNA strands and in the correct temporal sequence, and 2) if a cell fails to
complete DNA replication correctly and thus turns cancerous, then the nanobot needs to destroy
the cancer cells before they overrun the host. This game has connections to such diverse careers
as Molecular Biology (examining biological processes), Biophysics (extending the application of
existing enzymes or engineering artificial ones), Analytical Chemistry (examining the efficacy of
enzymatic processes) and BioMathematics (computer modeling of cell population dynamics).
Western Modern Science is taught in this game; specifically, the current model of prokaryotic
DNA replication. However, this game also supports an ontological investment by its players:
they get to determine whether cells live or die within their petri dish; they also get to decide
which cells get helped first. Rather than a straight-up shoot-em action game, this game will
allow some level of introspection about the power of life and death within an artificial
microcosm.

This educational game is a combination of action, strategy and simulation archetypes.

Cancerous cells can be destroyed (action); cells in S phase will require different levels of help
with DNA replication and therefore the player will utilize strategy to determine which cells are
helped first; there is also a simulation aspect to modeling DNA replication.

To ensure maximum breadth of accessibility, I will develop this game using Construct2, which is
an HTML5 game creator optimized for 2D game creation. HTML5 games run in any browser,
independent of operating system. At least two levels of difficulty are offered: level 1 disables
the ability for cells to turn cancerous, while more advanced levels support the formation of
cancerous cells as a result of player-assisted incomplete/inaccurate DNA replication.

In all honesty, the process of storyboarding this game has been the most difficult part of the
game building process: storyboarding such a simple game might be of great assistance to new
programmers unaccustomed to clearly defining programming objectives, but for me I felt like I
was being handicapped/pigeonholed to reflect our class lowest common denominator. Lots of
opportunity exists for game improvement (optimize nanobots for dexterity/speed/a particular
enzyme), or even adding complexity by making the player proofread newly synthesized DNA.
However, I find it far more effective to identify these value-added components as future
development rather than increasing the complexity of the initial product.