Facebook, Google tech gurus to design cancer research game Thu, Feb 28 2013 By Kate Kelland LONDON | Thu Feb 28, 2013 7:11pm EST (Reuters) - Scientists from a British cancer charity are teaming up with technology gurus from the likes of Amazon, Facebook and Google to design and develop a mobile game aimed at speeding the search for new cancer drugs. The project, led by the charity Cancer Research UK, should mean that anyone with a smart phone and five minutes to spare will be able to investigate vital scientific data at the same time as playing a mobile game. The first step is for 40 computer programmers, gamers, graphic designers and other specialists to take part in a weekend "GameJam" to turn the charity's raw genetic data into a game format for future so-called "citizen scientists"."We're making great progress in understanding the genetic reasons cancer develops. But the clues to why some drugs will work and some won't are held in data which need to be analyzed by the human eye - and this could take years," said Carlos Caldas at Cancer Research UK's Cambridge Institute. "By harnessing the collective power of citizen scientists we'll accelerate the discovery of new ways to diagnose and treat cancer much more precisely." After the GameJam, which runs in London from March 1-3, an agency will build the game concept into reality and the team plans to launch it in mid 2013. Cancer already kills more than 7.5 million people a year and the number of people with the disease worldwide is expected to surge by more than 75 percent by 2030, according to the World Health Organization's cancer agency IARC. CRUK's scientists are working hard to identify the genetic faults that drive cancer to try to find new ways of diagnosing and treating patients in a more targeted way based on their genetic profile and that of their tumors. In a major international study on breast cancer genetics published last year, CRUK researchers said they are now able to classify the disease into 10 subtypes - a finding that could lead to more accurate and tailored treatment in future. That study also found several completely new genes that drive breast cancer, offering potential targets for new types of drugs. Yet this type of research generates colossal amounts of data that need to be analyzed, CRUK said as it announced the gaming project. And while advances in technology mean scientists can process data faster than ever, much of it still needs to be analyzed by people rather than machines. "The human eye can detect subtle changes that machines are not programmed to look for - leading to serendipitous discoveries providing clues to the causes and drivers of the disease," the charity said. "With the collective power of hundreds of thousands of people across the globe helping our scientists to analyze this data we could drastically speed up research." Philip Su, engineering site director of Facebook London said his company believes the best way to solve a problem "is to bring smart people together to 'hack' a solution." "That approach is just as valid in the field of life sciences as it is in software engineering," he said.(Reporting by Kate Kelland)
Facebook谷歌专家将参与设计开发癌症研究游戏 来源：网易网站 | 2013-03-01 13:26:30网易科技讯 3月1日消息，据路透社报道，英国癌症研究中心的科学家们将联手来自亚马逊、Facebook、谷歌等公司的技术专家，共同设计与开发一个旨在加速新癌症药物研究的移动游戏。该由英国癌症研究中心（以下简称"CRUK"）领导的项目意味着，任何拥有智能手机和5分钟碎片时间的人，将能够在玩移动游戏的同时，研究癌症相关的重要科学数据。项目的第一步是，40名电脑程序员、玩家、图形设计师和其它专家将参与一个名为"GameJam"的周末活动，为未来的"平民科学家"而将CRUK的原始基因数据转化为游戏格式。"我们在理解癌症形成的基因原因方面正获得很大的进展，但有关有的药物有效有的没效的线索仍隐藏在数据当中，那些数据需要人眼进行分析——这会耗费数年时间。"CRUK剑桥研究所的卡洛斯?卡尔达斯（Carlos Caldas）表示。"通过利用平民科学家的集体力量，我们将会加速发现更加精准地诊断和治疗癌症的新方式。"GameJam 在伦敦举行，从3月1日持续到3月3日。之后，将会委托一家代理商将该游戏概念变为现实，该团队计划在2013年年中推出。根据国际癌症研究机构（IARC）的数据，每年因癌症死亡的人数超过750万，到2030年，患有癌症的人数预计将飙涨逾75%。CRUK的科学家们正努力鉴定引发癌症的基因问题，试图以更加精准的基于患者基因和肿瘤档案的方式，寻找诊断和治疗患者的新方式。CRUK研究人员在去年发布的一项乳癌基因国际研究报告中称，他们如今能够将乳癌归为10个子类——这一调查有望使得未来的治疗变得更加精准。该研究还发现了数个全新的引发乳癌的基因，为新式药物的开发指明了方向。然而，CRUK在公布上述游戏项目时指出，这类研究会产生大量需要分析的数据。尽管技术进步意味着科学家们能够空前快速地处理数据，但其中的大部分工作仍需要人力亲自进行分析，而非机器。该慈善机构说道，"人眼能够发现受编程机器所不能察觉的微妙变化——以致出现很多带来癌症的主要诱因线索的意外发现。""集合全球数十万人的力量帮助我们的科学家分析这种数据，我们将能够大大加速研究进程。"Facebook伦敦工程网站主管菲利普?苏（Philip Su）表示，其公司认为"汇集聪明的人研发解决方案"是解决问题的最佳途径。"那种方式在生命科学领域里会跟在软件工程领域一样有效。"(乐邦)
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