Botanical Analyzer

The Botanical Analyzer is a Science building used to identify mutated seeds. When a seed is analyzed, it is dropped into the building’s Cell of Interest, which is the far-left cell. As a Science building, it receives a +10% efficiency bonus when placed inside a Laboratory.

Its main value comes from mutated seeds being a potentially infinite resource. Because of that, the Botanical Analyzer can be used to repeatedly train Duplicants in Science, allowing them to gain Science skill and level up faster than they normally would. In practice, this makes it a convenient early and midgame tool for building Science attribute levels without consuming finite research opportunities.

A few details are worth noting when using it:

• The analyzed seed’s mutation can appear in the plant’s drop popup even before the mutation has been identified. For example, a seed may show its plant name with a mutation label, while the seed itself is still listed as an unidentified subspecies.
• Since mutated seeds can be produced indefinitely, the Botanical Analyzer can support essentially unlimited Science training, unlike the finite technology tree, which cannot be used for endless Science growth.
• Because the seed drops into the far-left cell, that space should be kept clear if you want the analyzer to operate reliably.
• Placing it in a Laboratory is worthwhile for the efficiency bonus, especially if you plan to use it as a dedicated training station rather than a one-off utility building.

Overall, the Botanical Analyzer is less about advancing research directly and more about turning plant mutations into a renewable source of Science experience. It is especially effective in colonies that can regularly produce mutated seeds, since those seeds provide a renewable training loop with no practical cap as long as the source plants keep generating them.