A new experimental project that will hopefully enable players to run PS2 games natively on their PC is currently underway.
PS2Recomp is described as a "PlayStation 2 Static Recompiler & Runtime Tool to make native PC ports", and is being developed by the Brazilian programmer ran-j.
It follows in the wake of similar projects for the N64 and Xbox 360, including Mr. Wise Guys' N64Recomp and Hedge-Dev's XenonRecomp, and reportedly works by statically recompiling PlayStation 2 ELF binaries into C++ code.
The desired outcome is that this code can then be compiled for other platforms, including the PC, potentially allowing for greater accuracy than traditional emulation and expanded modding support. The project is currently in its early days and doesn't yet work as intended, but it is currently soliciting pull requests to help the project.
Admittedly, this isn't the first time we've come across a project like this. Last year, for instance, we were made aware of a similar experiment, PSRetroX, from an Argentinian systems engineering student, which promised to "extract and process game files, enabling native PC ports of PS2 games".
This project ended up being inactive, however, with the creator stating that it was simply started as "a personal and experimental exploration into low-level C++" and had long been discontinued.
Fortunately, PS2Recomp seems to be a bit more active, but whether or not it will actually succeed in its mission, only time will tell.