The Cell and its Organelles educational game is based on the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded for discoveries concerning the structure and organisation of the vital components of a cell.
- What is an ultracentrifuge used for?
- What are the compartments of the cell?
- What functions do the various organelles have in the cell?
The specialised compartments of a cell, the organelles, are so small that it was impossible to study their structure until the electron microscope was developed in 1938. The 1974 Nobel Laureates in Medicine, developed methods that made it possible to take a closer look at the organelles and identify some of them.
The game revolves around the ultracentrifuge -- a piece of laboratory equipment that separates organelles in a cell by virtue of their size, shape and density. By sheer bad fortune, Professor Megacell happens to fall into an ultracentifuge, which results in some of his organelles being shot out and he himself ending up hanging from a rotating fan on the ceiling. Your mission is to return his organelles to their correct position by firing different organelles at him using a slingshot. Each time you must read the hints to figure out the correct organelle to shoot. For example, if you see the hint "He looks like he has lost all his energy", you should shoot the mitochondria (the power plant of the cell that provides the energy to drive chemical reactions in the cell).
The quicker you select and shoot the correct organelle, the more points you will score. If you're really quick you could end up on the all-time high score list!
For instructions on how to play the game, click on the HELP button found at the bottom of the game window.