Every so often, EVE Online developer CCP Games kicks off a campaign called Project Discovery to leverage EVE’s sizable playerbase and help real-world scientists chew through data related to everything from outer space to the human body.
This time around, CCP has brought Project Discovery back online to help scientists better understand how COVID-19 impacts human immune systems during a pandemic that has weighed on much of the world’s population.
Project Discovery asks EVE Online players to partake in a mini-game during their real-time space travels where they’ll identify clusters of cells and, in turn, help scientists understand how infection alters different cell types.
“At present, we face a viral threat unlike any seen before, a novel coronavirus that seems to spread more rapidly than most while also causing a range of symptoms in its victims, making it difficult to combat. Through the use of the newly-developed flow cytometry simulators, you will aim to contribute to decoding this debilitating pathogen,” reads the EVE Online site.
“In doing so, you will participate in analyzing COVID-19 data, as well as other related flow cytometry charts, which will help scientists understand better how our immune systems are impacted by this novel coronavirus.”
These latest steps to help combat the coronavirus follow the end of CCP’s latest PLEX for Good campaign that raised $135,550 for the World Health Organization COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.