Nucleus

Organelle Details
Nucleus
Base Cost (MP)	70
Requires Nucleus	No
Processes	None
Enzymes	None
Size (Hexes)	10
Osmoregulation Cost	10
Storage	4
Unique	Yes
Upgrades	None
Internal Name	nucleus

The largest organelle and the defining feature of eukaryotic cells. Allows cells to evolve advanced, membrane-bound organelles with more powerful effects, such as Mitochondria and Lysosomes.

Costs a lot of ATP to maintain due to its enormous size and osmoregulation cost. Once a cell obtains a nucleus, it cannot be removed in future generations.

Also reduces damage taken from any source other than starvation by 50%.

Requirements

No requirements, except for a lot of extra space to fit it in.

Processes

No processes.

Modifications

No modifications.

Effects

Once a cell evolves a Nucleus, it gains the ability to evolve many other organelles that were previously locked.

Cells with a Nucleus take 50% less damage from any source except starvation (damage due to not having any ATP ).

A cell can only have at most one Nucleus and it cannot be removed after it evolves.

Upgrades

No upgrades.

Strategy

Think very hard before adding a Nucleus to your cell. They are expensive to maintain and slow your cell down considerably, so ensure you have a significant positive ATP balance and can afford a more sedate lifestyle for a generation or two. We recommend adding Cilia and Flagella in subsequent generations to recover some agility.

The benefits though are obvious. Eukaryotes (cells with a Nucleus) gain access to more versatile future upgrades than prokaryotes (cells without one).

Organelles unlocked by the Nucleus offer powerful new abilities, such as the Signaling Agent and Binding Agent, or significant upgrades to existing abilities, such as Mitochondria and Thermoplasts. We recommend replacing prokaryotic organelles with their more efficient eukaryotic counterparts after adding a Nucleus to improve ATP production and better sustain your cell.

Scientific Background

Nuclei are found in virtualy all real-world eukaryotic cells, where they perform a critical role in protecting the host organism's genetic material and regulating gene expression.

It is currently unclear how nuclei first evolved; some researchers have suggested that they might have been the product of endosymbiosis, perhaps having originated as an archaeal cell that invaded a bacterial cell. Others have proposed that they might have evolved from viruses, or perhaps simply as a result of a single cell forming a second membrane around itself, with the original cell becoming the nucleus.