The winner, however, was Steve Meretzky, developer of Zoo Tycoon, whose concept game Bac Attack pits players armed with light and radiation against a bacterial colony in a petri dish -- when the player is inevitably overwhelmed by the bacteria, Steve suggests calling the government to arrange a sale.

ENGADGET: Interspecies gaming hits GDC

Zeneca ordered a "wet" copy of a promising gene, in the form of a clone -- a colony of bacterial cells whose members all carry the desired snippet of DNA. These bacterial guinea pigs can then be used to try out antibacterial chemicals.

FORBES: Biology in silico