The Human Genome: A Story of Convergent Evolution

You are the Human Genome. Your singular goal: the survival and adaptation of your species.

Step into the code of human life in this interactive, choice-driven survival game. Across different epochs and continents, early human populations are facing severe, life-threatening environmental pressures. As the guiding force of their genetics, you must make critical decisions about their diets, migrations, and resources.

Will your populations succumb to the brutal forces of natural selection, or will you unlock the genetic mutations necessary to thrive?

Explore Three Distinct Evolutionary Paths:

• Chapter 1: The Sunless North (Ancient Europe) – Navigate a harsh, cloudy winter where a lack of UV sunlight threatens your population with severe Vitamin D deficiency.
• Chapter 2: The Great Famine (East Africa) – Guide a pastoralist society in Kenya and Tanzania through a devastating drought and widespread crop failure.
• Chapter 3: The Arid Sands (The Middle East) – Survive the extreme heat of the Saudi Arabian desert, where finding an uncontaminated water source is a matter of life and death.

The Science Behind the Game: This interactive experience explores the real-world biological phenomenon of Lactase Persistence. Players will discover how entirely different environmental pressures—from starvation to dehydration to lack of sunlight—led to independent genetic mutations (SNPs like -13910*T, -14010*C, and -13915*G).

By playing through all three scenarios, you will unlock the final conclusion and witness convergent evolution in action: the incredible process by which distinct geographic populations independently evolve the exact same advantageous phenotype.

How to Play: Read the environmental prompts carefully and click the highlighted links to make your choices. Your decisions will directly impact the phenotypic outcomes of your populations. Survive all three chapters to unlock the final evolutionary synthesis.