History of Biology and the Spongelab Science Scavenger Hunt Game

History of Biology is a browser game about the people and discoveries behind modern biology. Spongelab Interactive, a Toronto studio known for the Genomics Digital Lab series of science games, released it in fall 2010 and announced it on October 4, 2010.

The player enters a mystery built around a fictional scientist, Dr. Walden Shyre. To advance, players search the Internet for clues, solve puzzles and break a code, while shadowy forces try to reach Shyre's research first. The missions follow the real timeline of the field. The story opens in the 17th century with the microscope and the first descriptions of microscopic life, then moves through cell theory, classification, evolution, the mechanisms of heredity, the central dogma of genetics and the genomics revolution. Players research the lives of more than 20 scientists along the way and see how each discovery shaped culture, politics, economics and ethics.

The game was written for students and their teachers. It came with metrics and assessment tools that show how each student is progressing, which also helps with grading.

History of Biology sat inside the Spongelab Biology portfolio. Subscribers received Genomics Digital Lab, an immersive learning environment built around discovery, and a bio-musical game called Transcription Hero. The studio contrasted the 3D graphics and animation of the new title with earlier science games, which were mostly text-based puzzles or trivia.

The ending deals with genetic engineering, one of the more contested areas of modern science. The designers raise the ethical questions and leave the player to work through them, without steering toward either side of the debate.

The game's original home no longer loads. In November 2026 the spongelab.com domain name does not lead to any site, so the address given for the game at launch cannot be opened. The separate Genomics Digital Lab address, genomicsdigitallab.com, shows only a bare not-found message on its front page and on the other addresses tried.

A web search turned up descriptions and reviews of History of Biology, but no page from the studio or any other maker that offers the game for play. The game is therefore listed as unconfirmed. No page from the studio says it was retired, so the reason for its disappearance is not known.