Nucleus is a platform for sharing synthetic cell modules and tools for their development. The goal of the platform is to make available a set of core synthetic cell modules and methods for their use that are well-documented and accessible such that can be readily used and adapted by other practitioners.
Ongoing development of the Distribution is shared via Developer Notes (DevNotes). DevNotes serve as the primary vehicle for contributing to the Distribution. Currently, Nucleus has a two-tiered approach for managing contributions:
This two-tiered approach makes it easy to contribute without compromising the quality and focus of the Core distribution. Over time, we will facilitate integration of community contributions into the Core, but this process will take time to get right and will be an act of co-creation between b.next and the community.
Our goal is to facilitate the growth of a thriving and collaborative synthetic cell ecosystem. These practices will help to ensure that people can compete on creative things to do with synthetic cells and not on getting synthetic cells working in the first place.
Working publicly
One of the biggest challenges the synthetic cell developer faces is the need to reinvent a large number of processes that are mostly already established, but that all require different technical nuances; often in areas they are unfamiliar with and in isolation. Working in public means sharing work sooner rather than later—inviting early feedback and collaboration from the developer community to effectively resolve foundational challenges that others have already traversed. By letting the community know what you’re working on and where things get challenging, you can enable other developers to not stumble upon the same issues.
DevNotes aim to be a first step in this direction by providing a venue for sharing bite-sized ideas and work. Communication should not be bottlenecked by the speed of conferences and peer review. Communication should also encompass more than just polished, highly novel results. DevNotes provide a space for ideas, plans, experimental replication, negative results, as well as novel modules and synthetic cells to be shared. Similar to “preprints in progress”, DevNotes are complementary to existing publication practices.
FAIR practices for synthetic cells
DevNotes help developers adhere to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) Principles that are appropriate for the development of synthetic cell technologies. Through FAIR practices, we can more effectively build on each other’s work and progress in new directions.