CraftCells: 3D Cell Biology Reaches Broad Audiences with Minecraft

Scientific studies improve researchers’ understanding of the world and often translate into breakthroughs in medicine. However, communicating these results to wider audiences is often difficult because of the complexity of the topics. To bridge this gap, Zaida Luthey-Schulten, a biological physicist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and her group developed CraftCells, a world in the block-based videogame Minecraft where the researchers translated 3D cell data into Minecraft objects for player exploration.¹

How did the CraftCells project start?

My group studies the minimum requirements for cells to live. As part of one project, we developed a software package that divided a cell into a grid to help us study reactions in specific regions within the cell. After a conference talk where I demonstrated this software, someone told me that it reminded them of objects in Minecraft, a video game where players build objects out of blocks. I thought that turning our models into Minecraft designs that anyone could explore could be a great outreach tool. Kevin Tan, my colleague’s graduate student and a coauthor, played Minecraft and helped translate our imaging data into schematic files for the game.

How can players use CraftCells?

We developed this tool for a range of audiences. Users can download our worlds from our GitHub and load them into Minecraft. Players can then fly around and explore the components of a bacterial cell, a yeast cell, or a comparison of a healthy and cancerous epithelial cell. Tan added a rollercoaster on the DNA, so players can also ride down the nucleic acid chain.

We also have resources available for players to learn how to translate experimental data into a Minecraft object of their own to practice data processing and coding. So CraftCells is really an educational tool for learners at all levels.

What’s next for CraftCells?

We want to work with science teachers to learn what other features they would find useful. When I shared this at a conference, someone from the National Cancer Institute was interested in using this as an outreach tool. We’re also really interested in incorporating dynamics so that we can show how processes work in cells and adding more cell types either from our group or from other researchers who use our workflow to upload their 3D model.