Borderlands 3 players can help map the human gut microbiome by playing Borderlands Science

Borderlands Science is a game within the Borderlands 3 game that allows you to provide data for scientific study.

Announced today, Borderlands Science can now be played inside Borderlands 3, and what it does is help map the human gut microbiome.

You can also earn unique rewards for playing.

According to the announcement, next time you visit Doctor Tannis' infirmary, you will notice a newly installed Borderlands Science arcade game.

The mini-game was developed in conjunction with McGill University, Massively Multiplayer Online Science, and The Microsetta Initiative, and playing it will help benefit the real-world scientific community.

The arcade game presents simple block puzzles based on strands of DNA and by solving the puzzles, you will "help map and compare the microbes contained therein."

Here's a breakdown of what the game entails:

Colored tiles representing different nucleotides appear on a grid; by nudging them up within their columns, you attempt to organize them into the correct rows. It's not always possible to line up all of the tiles correctly, but attempting these puzzles is still helpful as you're identifying errors in real-world computer analyses.

Each of the Borderlands Science puzzles has a target score that you need to hit in order to progress and get credit for solving it. Note that hitting a puzzle's target score doesn't mean you have to move on to the next one though; often there will still be additional moves that you can make. Going above and beyond the bare minimum that's required is key if you want to beat the high scores already posted by Tannis and contribute more data to this important microbe initiative.

In case you're curious about the practical applications for the raw data gathered through Borderlands Science, the human gut is linked to numerous diseases and conditions, including diabetes, depression, autism, anxiety, obesity and more. By mapping these microbes, the hope is that scientists will be able to better understand these ecosystems, which may help guide future research into novel treatments and interventions.

Completing these puzzles also earns you in-game currency, which can be redeemed for Vault Hunter Heads and Skins as well as timed boosters that buff your stats, loot quality, and gains to be used in the core game.

Check out the video below to learn more, or just jump into the game for yourself and give it a try.