Learning the Immune System by Playing a Game

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has released a computer game called Immune Attack.

ABCNews asks: Are Video Games the New Textbooks?
It is not the first time, that games have been tried in the educational field. I remember seeing a game called Atlantis, where the object is to learn to manage the many aspects of a country.
Some multi-player games are very good for teaching cooperation.


In the Immune Attack we take the role of a nanobot, which we must navigate through a 3D environment of blood vessels and connective tissue, to retrain non-functional immune cells. Along the way, we learn about white blood cells and infections, and immunology in general.

FAS stated the objectives of the games as:

Upon completion of Immune Attack, the student will be able to demonstrate understanding of:

• The role of macrophages and neutrophils in the immune system
• The process of transmigration of monocytes
• How the body uses chemical signals to find the site of infection
• How the body uses chemical markers to recognize enemies
• How macrophages “call” neutrophils for “backup”

I think this is a very exciting way to learn immunology. I expect there will be more games of this kind in the future.

The game can be downloaded for free, it is over 500M, and runs under Windows XP. If you don't want to download it, you can still have some idea of the game by watching videos of the game on the FAS site.