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When was the last time you described microbiology as "fun"? Particularly if you were required to study it?

MedMicroMaps Founder/CEO Dr. Jane Harrington may well change your perspective.

"Biology is fascinating, if you get to play with it; if you get to see it in real time," she says.

Science is a subject Dr. Jane has loved since she was a child.

And her background in teaching microbiology at the university level, as well as visiting K-12 schools, led her to realize the challenge of sharing that passion with students.

"How can you learn something you can't see, and you can't touch it?" she asks.

Microbiology gets playful

Accordingly, Dr. Jane has created a virtual-reality application, based on real science, that puts a "face" on a bacteria phage, and allows visitors to touch microbes and learn more about them. This is a game in which players get to solve a mystery!

Best of all, her application includes customization to the individual learner. Her mascot, Phage.i, is a bacteria phage which guides users through the experience. He's AI-assisted to begin at a learner's starting point, for microbiology, and help them "grow" from there.

And, he's designed to be fun.

Phage.i, in fact, is a whimsical character with a high voice, which tends to take the "intimidation" factor out of learning microbiology. Dr. Jane says upon seeing him, most people comment on his "cuteness"!

And of course, like any other game, accomplishing missions becomes gradually more challenging as people play. The first edition of the game, Dr. Jane says, will be for fun and for the general population. Then, in Spring of 2026, the enterprise version will be released, designed for use in schools, allowing for learning from the undergraduate to graduate level.

Expanding the learning opportunities

But the game, the alpha version of which will be available free for Meta Quest in May, is only one aspect of the ways Dr. Jane's MedMicroMaps will be taking the "intimidaton" factor out of learning microbiology.

Central to the system is something brand-new and innovative.

This is a compass, which shows microbes, in color, grouped by type in the various directions. It allows learners to literally touch them in virtual reality, and identify them by their color. These visual elements-- especially the colors in which the microbes are shown--tend to make learning about them almost intuitive.

And Dr. Jane envisions her game and applications, including an augmented-reality phone app scheduled for release this fall, as being for everyone, as opposed to those interested in science and biology alone. Now, when she meets people to talk about what she's created, she distributes stickers and keychains, featuring Phage.i!

"I will do anything, as an educator, to meet the learner where they are," she says.

Dr. Jane talked about creating MedMicroMaps, explained how her game works and offered a closer look at her compass, designed to revolutionize the ways students learn about microbes!