Cancer is a relentless adversary. In 2025, it is projected to claim over 618,000 lives in the United States alone. Almost half of the nation is impacted by the disease every year, either through personal diagnosis or the experiences of loved ones.
Jeff Yoshimi joined this 50% when his wife, Sandy, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her condition had progressed to the point where cancerous cells had spread to some lymph nodes.
During one of many overnight hospital stays with Sandy, Yoshimi found himself drifting in and out of sleep, his thoughts coalescing around his academic background and passions. As a UC Merced professor of cognitive science, he specializes in understanding how people perceive and process experiences.
Yoshimi is also adept at breaking down complex concepts into digestible, game-like visualizations. It was during one of these long, contemplative nights that an idea struck him: Could he contribute to the fight against cancer using his unique skill set?
Yoshimi envisioned harnessing the collective brainpower of millions of individuals—gamers who thrive on solving puzzles, mashing buttons, and defeating virtual foes—and channeling it into cancer research. What if the battle against cancer could be scaled up with an arsenal of engaging, purpose-driven video games?
This idea, sparked in 2013, eventually evolved over 11 years into a comprehensive action plan, culminating in Yoshimi’s book, Gaming Cancer, published by MIT Press. In the book, he argues that gamified citizen science, combined with the growing power of artificial intelligence, can drive significant advancements in cancer research.
Today, Sandy Yoshimi is alive and well after enduring surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and medication. However, cancer has continued to affect their family. Sandy’s sister passed away from colon cancer shortly after Yoshimi began writing the book, and in 2023, bile duct cancer claimed her father’s life.
“Much of this book was written in cancer wards and chemo rooms,” Yoshimi reflects in the first chapter.
The book’s subtitle, How Building and Playing Video Games Can Accelerate Scientific Discovery, encapsulates its goal. With an accessible writing style, Yoshimi explains not only how his vision can be realized but also why it’s essential. He highlights the complex yet logical nature of many cancer-related scientific problems, which can often be simplified and presented within a gaming framework.
Existing citizen science games offer a glimpse of this potential. For example, Foldit challenges players to solve puzzles related to protein folding, a process crucial for understanding cellular mutation and developing therapeutic drugs. By 2020, approximately 750,000 users had participated in Foldit. However, Yoshimi’s vision is far more ambitious—he imagines games with the scale and popularity of titles like Candy Crush or Baldur’s Gate.
Yoshimi’s experience with game-like educational tools reinforces his confidence in this approach. In 2008, he developed Simbrain, a program that helps users explore neural networks through simplified visuals. He uses it to teach neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence, demonstrating how gamification can make complex subjects more accessible.
In Gaming Cancer, Yoshimi outlines the steps needed to develop a suite of impactful games. This includes assembling talented programmers, visionary leaders, and funding sources, while ensuring seamless integration between gamers and research laboratories. Central to his vision is Simbody, a proposed game engine capable of simulating biological systems, from entire organisms to nanoscale processes.
The suite, tentatively named “Cancer Wars,” would tackle cancer challenges across diverse genres: action, adventure, strategy, role-playing, and more. Each game would break down a complex cancer problem into manageable tasks for players to solve.
Recent advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly large language models like ChatGPT, add another layer of potential. Yoshimi envisions a synergistic relationship between human gamers and AI, where AI handles data processing while humans contribute creativity and intuition. “AI can do raw number crunching and statistical generalization,” Yoshimi explains, “but humans see the bigger picture and make creative connections.”
This partnership, he suggests, could emulate iconic duos like Captain Picard and Data or Luke Skywalker and C-3PO. Together, human and AI collaboration could yield breakthroughs that neither could achieve alone.
Beyond eradicating cancer, Yoshimi sees value in intermediate goals, such as improving detection methods, refining treatments, and fostering public understanding of cancer prevention. Video games, he argues, could inspire lifestyle changes that reduce cancer risks and enhance awareness of clinical research.
Given cancer’s devastating toll—it remains the second-leading cause of death in the U.S., behind heart disease—Yoshimi believes mobilizing a legion of gamers to join the fight is not just feasible but essential.
“It’s worth the effort,” Yoshimi concludes. “Even if you don’t hit the moonshot, all the intermediate shots are invaluable.”
- Press release from University of California – Merced
