At Rome Video Game Lab 2020, held on November 4th, the official trailer and a video pitch of Code#DNA were revealed.
Idra Interactive Studios is developing this applied game on account of the Biology Department of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, with a main focus on molecular anthropology and paleobotany. The subject of the talk moderated by Micaela Romanini (Managing Director of Idra Interactive Studios) has been the combination of video games as a medium and the world
of science. Among the speakers who attended the event:
- Professor Antonella Canini, full professor of Botany at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and Director of the Botanical Garden;
- Professor Olga Rickards, full professor of Molecular Anthropology, Director of the Department of Biology and the Center of Molecular Anthropology for the Study of Ancient
DNA in the University of Rome Tor Vergata. - Raoul Carbone, Director of Code#DNA by Idra Interactive Studios, and professor of 3D Graphics applied to forensic anthropology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
In Code#DNA, players will assume the role of Emma (fictional character), a young molecular anthropologist at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, who collaborates on several scientific research activities on ancient DNA extraction and the study of multiple human remains. All cases investigated in the video game are based on real research carried out by the Center of Molecular Anthropology for the Study of Ancient DNA on real archeological sites:
- Lazzaretto Nuovo in Venice, where a woman was buried in the 16th century.
- Grotta Guattari in San Felice Circeo, burial site of a Neanderthal man.
- Siberia, where she will experience an investigation on the existence of the legendary Yeti.
- Seville Cathedral, theoretically the burial place of Cristoforo Colombo.
- San Fermo Maggiore, a Church in Verona, which is considered the burial site of a Great
Knight Templar.
Among the different settings of the adventure, there is also a faithful recreation of the Center of Molecular Anthropology for the Study of Ancient DNA of the Biology Department of the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
