Breeding virtual dragons is all in a day’s work in biology classrooms using Geniverse, our free, web-based genetics software. Although Geniverse is a game-like environment, it’s far more than child’s play. Indeed, students dive into genetics on a quest to heal a beloved dragon. Students use a model species (drakes) to explore the fundamental mechanisms of heredity and genetic diseases and get a taste of careers in genetics. (Drakes are essentially a smaller version of a dragon, and are a model species in much the same way as the mouse is a model species for human genetic disease.)

But why did we choose dragons and drakes? To start, they are just plain fun! And since they’re mythical, we can bring together into one animal any and all real-world genes we’d like to teach with—without having to be restricted to a specific species’ genome. So, while our dragons and drakes are fantastical, their genes are very much real, gathered from mice, fruit flies, lizards, and other organisms we study in laboratories all over the world. When students learn genetics with Geniverse, they’ll encounter the genes again, should they venture into a real genetics lab later in life.

Students begin their Geniverse adventure as a student in the Drake Breeder’s Guild, where they move through four levels of progressively more difficult genetics challenges and unlock new chapters of the narrative. Try Geniverse now and learn how fun (and educational) dragons can be!