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The Unbelievable Quest to Make “Doom” Run on Everything
For almost two decades now, a quirky and relentless pursuit has captivated the minds of amateur programmers and seasoned scientists alike – the endeavor to make the iconic game “Doom” run on just about anything imaginable. From graphing calculators to pregnancy tests, the gaming community’s obsession knows no bounds. But leave it to an intrepid MIT doctoral candidate, Lauren “Ren” Ramlan, to take this peculiar fascination to a whole new level by attempting to make Doom run on none other than E. coli cells. Yes, you read that right – bacteria cells playing a classic first-person shooter game.
In a recent video presentation showcasing her groundbreaking experiment, Ramlan humbly acknowledged the immense challenge of achieving actual gameplay on cellular level, admitting that it was a task beyond her current grasp. However, within the quirky subculture known as “Doom runs on everything” (DROE for short), the mere display of the game’s signature 8-bit frames on unconventional screens is considered a triumph in itself. And what screen could be more unconventional than a grid of glowing gut bacteria cell arrays?
The origins of this bizarre technological odyssey can be traced back to 1997 when the creators of Doom generously released the game’s source code to the public. Fast forward to 2006, and the DROE movement truly took flight. A pivotal moment arrived when a YouTube user named “KevlarGorilla” astounded the internet by showcasing Doom running on a humble Nintendo DS. Shortly thereafter, a British researcher raised the stakes even higher by achieving Doom gameplay on an oscilloscope monitor. The bar was set, and the challenge was accepted.
Inspired by the remarkable success of researchers who managed to coax brain cells into playing “Pong,” Ramlan embarked on her audacious genetic experiment. By ingeniously utilizing a fluorescent protein to illuminate individual cells on her array in a sequence mimicking Doom frames, she effectively turned her living canvas into a pixelated game screen. With a combination of custom genetic engineering and Python coding wizardry, Ramlan unleashed Doom on her microscopic stage.
The results, while awe-inspiring, were not without their quirks. The cells took a leisurely 70 minutes to light up the designated frames, and an excruciating eight hours to reset to a blank canvas. Extrapolating from these figures, Ramlan humorously estimated that a full game of Doom at this pace would demand a staggering 600 years to complete. As she gleefully proclaimed in her video, this experiment marked a pivotal leap towards the pinnacle of human ingenuity.
While the notion of playing Doom via gut bacteria may seem outlandish, one cannot help but marvel at the sheer creativity and technical prowess displayed in this quirky scientific venture. As humanity delves into the uncharted realms of genetic manipulation and cellular engineering, who knows what other fantastical feats may lie ahead. In a world where bacteria play video games, the possibilities truly seem endless.
