VirusGo begins
The roots of VirusGo began in summer 2022 when West, an honors computer science major from Washington D.C., joined Hadden-Perilla’s lab as an undergraduate fellow funded by the University of Delaware Research Foundation. Hadden-Perilla had seen immersive experiences about viruses based in virtual reality (VR) before but realized the audience was limited because not everyone has access to a VR headset. She had seen that other scientists were using AR to display protein structures and had West to look into the idea.
“We thought it would be so much better if we could find a way to get it in schools, to students and children. And so that's when that whole idea started of using AR models to show virus capsids, structural biology and stuff like that,” West said.
Although she never played the popular AR game Pokémon GO, West used it as an inspiration to code the virus models. She has completed more than 30 models so far: a mix of plant, human and animal viruses. As all are accessible on a cell phone, they can reach a much wider audience.
Hadden-Perilla reached out to Genova, and they began discussing using the AR models as part of a teaching tool.
“I thought that bringing this technology to the classroom would be incredible for student engagement,” Genova said. ”I'm all about trying to get students to engage with course material, but this is a whole new level where they can literally immerse themselves with these viruses, walk through them and move them around.”
McKeon, a biochemistry major from New Jersey, joined the lab last summer as part of an Research Experiences for Undergraduates program on virus-enabled biotechnology hosted by Hadden-Perilla’s group. The two students expanded the project to reflect a holistic view of the science of viruses and research. They worked together to create the details of the role-playing game.
“We wanted to encompass all sides of science because I feel like when we were in high school, and you wanted to go into science, people are always pushing you to be a doctor,” McKeon said. “Now most of us who do research want to go to grad school and get a Ph.D. and do research rather than being in patient care. I wanted to be able to expose the kids early to that because I would have loved that at 17 years old.”
Test it yourself
A few of the VirusGo AR models are available to the public. The model for the Zika virus can be found here. Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause fever, rash and joint pain. Zika infection is particularly dangerous for pregnant women as it can lead to severe birth defects like microcephaly.
The model for rotavirus can be found here. Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrheal disease in young children worldwide. Available vaccines for rotavirus have significantly reduced the numbers of infections in recent years.
Article by Hilary Douwes
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson
June 07, 2024