Nidus
The digital nervous system of my daily life
Explore NidusArtistic visualisation · not to scale
A personal lab by Klaas Vanslambrouck
LOWI
Lab of Wonder and Imagination
I explore how things work. And build to find out what they can do.
AI, biology, systems and stories meet here.
one cell, seven views
01 / 07
The membrane
Every lab begins with a boundary.
In the cell
The cell membrane selectively regulates which substances enter and leave. That boundary makes an internal world possible.
Within LOWI
Not every interesting question becomes a project. Within LOWI, I give a question enough attention to understand it, explore it and build something from it. Focus makes room for depth.
02 / 07
The cytoplasm
Not empty, but full of half-finished things.
In the cell
The cytoplasm includes the cytosol and structures outside the nucleus. It is a busy environment for transport and many chemical reactions.
Within LOWI
Things can be unfinished here. A script, a research question, a first interface. I combine them, test a hunch and change direction when it does not work. An experiment does not have to become a product. It should be clearly recognisable as an experiment.
03 / 07
The nucleus
Understand first. Then build.
In the cell
The nucleus contains most of the cell’s DNA. Genes carry information that, through RNA, contributes to protein production. DNA does not think; it stores hereditary information.
Within LOWI
I start by looking: what is actually happening here? Then I try to understand it, see connections and make a model. Building makes that model testable. What the test reveals determines what I need to look at again.
04 / 07
The ribosomes
An idea only counts when it runs.
In the cell
Ribosomes read messenger RNA and join amino acids into proteins. Genetic information becomes molecules that do work.
Within LOWI
Nidus makes that step concrete: data from my daily life comes together in a personal system. An API connects interfaces to data; workers handle recurring tasks. The case shows how these parts work together, and why their boundaries matter.
From idea to system · Nidus
The mobile interface talks to nidus-api. The API exposes data in Supabase; Raspberry Pi workers run recurring tasks. Interfaces, processing and storage each have their own responsibility.
Explore the architecture05 / 07
The mitochondria
Curiosity is the source of energy.
In the cell
During cellular respiration, mitochondria produce much of the ATP cells use. ATP transfers chemical energy to processes that need it.
Within LOWI
LOWI exists alongside my work. Here, a question does not need an immediate commercial use or a place on a roadmap. Why does a biological system work this way? What can AI reveal? Can a story help us understand technology? Curiosity gets both time and a workbench.
06 / 07
The Golgi apparatus
Becoming usable is a separate step.
In the cell
The Golgi apparatus modifies, sorts and packages proteins and lipids. Transport vesicles carry them to destinations inside or outside the cell.
Within LOWI
A prototype shows that something is possible. Then comes the work of making it useful: testing, removing unnecessary steps, writing explanations, shaping the interface and controlling access. I want more than to understand how it works. Someone else should be able to take it further.
07 / 07
Division
One question grows into new directions.
In the cell
After copying its DNA, an animal cell undergoing mitosis distributes its chromosomes between two nuclei. The cell can then split into two daughter cells.
Within LOWI
An experiment leaves more than a result. An insight becomes a building block; an unresolved question becomes a new beginning. Nidus and CRISPR & CHICKN take different directions. They share the same habit: investigate, make and look again.
- Chromosomes lined up at the centre
- Chromosomes moving to two poles
- Two nuclei, the cell pinches in
Simplified transition — not a biologically exact simulation.
One lab. Different directions.
Where projects begin.
LOWI is not one project. It is where projects come from. Sometimes a question becomes a system I use every day. Sometimes a story that opens a conversation. This is what is growing here.
CRISPR & CHICKN
Theatre at the intersection of science, technology and imagination