diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3158dd5..dc60bd8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@ A polished, clickable prototype of a JoVE product concept: a Lab Operating Syste
 
 > ### Confidential prototype. Not an official JoVE product.
 >
-> This repository is an internal product **concept** and an **unofficial prototype**, not an official JoVE product, feature, or release. It runs entirely on **synthetic data** and contains **no real JoVE assets, customer data, or content**. The "AI" is scripted, not a real model. This is **NDA-sensitive** and **not for external distribution**.
+> This repository is an internal product **concept** and an **unofficial prototype**, not an official JoVE product, feature, or release. It contains **no real JoVE assets, customer data, or content**, and the "AI" is scripted, not a real model. The lab seed is built from **real, publicly available** information about one real lab (the McClean Lab at UW-Madison, via its public website and OpenWetWare wiki); a small set of non-public fields (the per-person training matrix, joined dates, and the departing/new-hire timing) is **clearly marked as illustrative demo data**, since capturing exactly those fields is the product's own value proposition. See the integrity boundary at the top of `src/lib/data.ts`. This is **NDA-sensitive** and **not for external distribution**.
 
 **Live demo:** https://labos-prototype.vercel.app
 
-It is built to be shown to stakeholders (scientists and executives) *instead of* a written PRD. Every flow is set on a single cohesive fictional lab, the **Okafor Lab** (Neurodegeneration and iPSC Models, UC San Diego), so the data stays consistent end to end.
+It is built to be shown to stakeholders (scientists and executives) *instead of* a written PRD. Every flow is set on a single cohesive real lab, the **McClean Lab** (biological signal processing in yeast, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, UW-Madison), populated from that lab's public website and OpenWetWare wiki, so the data stays consistent end to end. Non-public fields are marked as demo (see `src/lib/data.ts`).
 
 ![joVE | LabOS landing page](./_screenshots/v2/01-landing.png)
 
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ labos-prototype/
 ├─ src/
 │  ├─ app/                 # Next.js App Router: landing, layout, and /flows/* routes
 │  ├─ components/          # brand, landing, shell, graph, tour, ui, and the four flows
-│  └─ lib/                 # synthetic data, graph builder, scripted "AI", and types
+│  └─ lib/                 # real-lab seed (+ marked demo fields), graph builder, scripted "AI", types
 ├─ _screenshots/          # full-page captures of every flow, the landing, and the tour
 ├─ DESIGN-SYSTEM.md       # design tokens, color, type, and component conventions
 ├─ tailwind.config.ts     # the JoVE design-token source of truth
@@ -97,6 +97,6 @@ The visual language (tokens, the WCAG-AA JoVE palette, typography, and component
 
 ## Status and disclaimer
 
-This is an early-stage **prototype** built to communicate a product concept. It uses **synthetic data only**, no real JoVE assets, and no real AI. It is **proprietary and confidential**, **NDA-sensitive**, and **not for external distribution**.
+This is an early-stage **prototype** built to communicate a product concept. The lab seed is real, publicly sourced data about the McClean Lab (with non-public fields clearly marked as illustrative demo); it uses no real JoVE assets and no real AI. It is **proprietary and confidential**, **NDA-sensitive**, and **not for external distribution**.
 
 All rights reserved. This is not open-source software and ships with no license grant.
diff --git a/src/components/flows/BrainFlow.tsx b/src/components/flows/BrainFlow.tsx
index aaaebfe..40c7d5d 100644
--- a/src/components/flows/BrainFlow.tsx
+++ b/src/components/flows/BrainFlow.tsx
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
   EXAMPLE_QUESTIONS,
   CHAT_SCRIPTS,
 } from "@/lib/scripts";
+import { LAB } from "@/lib/data";
 import type { ChatTurn, Citation } from "@/lib/types";
 import {
   Sparkle,
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ export function BrainFlow() {
         variant: "abstain",
         confidence: "abstain",
         text:
-          "I can only answer from the Okafor Lab's own captured knowledge, and I don't have a grounded source for that yet. I won't guess at a lab procedure. If this is a real gap, capture it and route it to the right owner.",
+          "I can only answer from the McClean Lab's own captured knowledge, and I don't have a grounded source for that yet. I won't guess at a lab procedure. If this is a real gap, capture it and route it to the right owner.",
         followUp: "Capture this gap",
       } as ChatTurn);
 
@@ -102,12 +103,12 @@ export function BrainFlow() {
           <div>
             <div className="flex items-center gap-2 text-sm font-bold text-ink">
               Lab Brain
-              <span className="chip py-0.5 text-[10px]">Okafor Lab</span>
+              <span className="chip py-0.5 text-[10px]">{LAB.name}</span>
             </div>
             <div className="flex items-center gap-1.5 text-xs text-muted">
               <span className="h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full bg-status-verified" />
               Grounded in <span className="num">6</span> protocols,{" "}
-              <span className="num">3</span> tacit notes,{" "}
+              <span className="num">4</span> tacit notes,{" "}
               <span className="num">10</span> skills
             </div>
           </div>
diff --git a/src/components/flows/JourneyFlow.tsx b/src/components/flows/JourneyFlow.tsx
index 069135d..bb299d2 100644
--- a/src/components/flows/JourneyFlow.tsx
+++ b/src/components/flows/JourneyFlow.tsx
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import {
   StatusBadge,
   Thumb,
 } from "@/components/ui/primitives";
-import { SOFIA_JOURNEY } from "@/lib/scripts";
+import { NEW_HIRE_JOURNEY } from "@/lib/scripts";
 import { personById, protocolById } from "@/lib/data";
 import type { JourneyStep } from "@/lib/types";
 import { useCompliance } from "@/components/shell/ComplianceProvider";
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ import {
   Fingerprint,
 } from "@/components/icons";
 
-const sofia = personById("sofia")!;
-const liang = personById("liang")!;
+const newHire = personById("tim")!;
+const trainer = personById("megan")!;
 
 type View = "path" | "step" | "checkpoint" | "trainer" | "verified";
 
@@ -53,10 +53,10 @@ export function JourneyFlow() {
       />
       <PageHeader
         eyebrow="Flow 2 · Learner experience + verified competence"
-        title="Sofia's first day"
+        title="Tim's first day"
         actions={<RolePill view={view} />}
       >
-        A personalized onboarding path, auto-targeted to a new rotation
+        A personalized onboarding path, auto-targeted to a new PhD
         student&apos;s gaps. Completion is gated on <em>verified competence</em>,
         not view counts.
       </PageHeader>
@@ -93,18 +93,18 @@ export function JourneyFlow() {
 }
 
 function RolePill({ view }: { view: View }) {
-  const trainer = view === "trainer";
-  const p = trainer ? liang : sofia;
+  const isTrainer = view === "trainer";
+  const p = isTrainer ? trainer : newHire;
   return (
     <div
       className={`flex items-center gap-2 rounded-full border px-3 py-1.5 transition ${
-        trainer ? "border-node-protocol/30 bg-chip-bg" : "border-line bg-surface"
+        isTrainer ? "border-node-protocol/30 bg-chip-bg" : "border-line bg-surface"
       }`}
     >
       <Avatar initials={p.initials} color={p.avatarColor} size={26} />
       <div className="leading-tight">
         <div className="text-xs font-bold text-ink">
-          {trainer ? "Trainer view" : "Learner view"}
+          {isTrainer ? "Trainer view" : "Learner view"}
         </div>
         <div className="text-[11px] text-muted">{p.name}</div>
       </div>
@@ -120,11 +120,13 @@ function PathView({
   verified: boolean;
   onOpenStep: () => void;
 }) {
-  const steps = SOFIA_JOURNEY.map((s) => {
-    // After the flow completes, the passaging checkpoint reads as done/verified.
-    if (verified && s.id === "j-passaging")
+  const steps = NEW_HIRE_JOURNEY.map((s) => {
+    // After the flow completes, the yeast-transformation checkpoint reads as
+    // done/verified and the next locked step opens up.
+    if (verified && s.id === "j-yeast-check")
       return { ...s, status: "done" as const };
-    if (verified && s.id === "j-icc") return { ...s, status: "active" as const };
+    if (verified && s.id === "j-microscopy")
+      return { ...s, status: "active" as const };
     return s;
   });
 
@@ -138,13 +140,13 @@ function PathView({
       <div data-tour="journey-path">
         {/* progress header */}
         <div className="card mb-4 flex items-center gap-4 p-4">
-          <Avatar initials={sofia.initials} color={sofia.avatarColor} size={44} />
+          <Avatar initials={newHire.initials} color={newHire.avatarColor} size={44} />
           <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
             <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
               <h2 className="truncate text-base font-bold text-ink">
-                {sofia.name}
+                {newHire.name}
               </h2>
-              <span className="chip py-0.5 text-[10px]">Rotation student</span>
+              <span className="chip py-0.5 text-[10px]">PhD student</span>
             </div>
             <p className="text-xs text-muted">
               Personalized path ·{" "}
@@ -164,11 +166,11 @@ function PathView({
         <div className="mb-4 flex items-start gap-2.5 rounded-card border border-action/20 bg-chip-bg/50 px-4 py-3">
           <Sparkle size={16} className="mt-0.5 shrink-0 text-action" />
           <p className="text-sm text-ink/80">
-            <strong className="text-ink">Tailored to Sofia.</strong> She arrives
-            strong on Western blot and sterile pipetting from her prior lab, so
-            LabOS <strong className="text-action-onchip">skipped those</strong>{" "}
-            and targets her real gaps: aseptic technique, iPSC culture, and ICC
-            basics.
+            <strong className="text-ink">Tailored to Tim.</strong> He arrives
+            verified on aseptic technique from his prior lab, so LabOS{" "}
+            <strong className="text-action-onchip">skipped that</strong> and
+            targets his real gaps: the lab&apos;s yeast transformation, the Nikon
+            Ti, and FISH.
           </p>
         </div>
 
@@ -179,7 +181,7 @@ function PathView({
               key={s.id}
               step={s}
               isLast={i === steps.length - 1}
-              onOpen={s.id === "j-passaging" ? onOpenStep : undefined}
+              onOpen={s.id === "j-yeast-check" ? onOpenStep : undefined}
             />
           ))}
         </ol>
@@ -197,11 +199,11 @@ function PathView({
               <Shield size={13} /> Competency checkpoint
             </div>
             <div className="text-sm font-semibold text-ink">
-              Passaging iPSC-derived neurons
+              Yeast transformation checkpoint
             </div>
             <div className="mt-1 flex items-center gap-1 text-xs text-muted">
               <Clock size={12} /> <span className="num">~40</span> min · with Dr.
-              Liang Wei
+              McClean
             </div>
             <div className="mt-2 inline-flex items-center gap-1 text-xs font-semibold text-action">
               Open step <ArrowRight size={13} />
@@ -212,9 +214,9 @@ function PathView({
           <div className="mb-2 text-sm font-bold text-ink">Why this order?</div>
           <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-muted">
             LabOS sequences by skill prerequisites in the graph. Aseptic
-            technique underpins iPSC culture, which underpins passaging, so the
-            path can&apos;t put her on the bench before the foundations are
-            verified.
+            technique underpins yeast transformation, which underpins the
+            microscopy and FISH work, so the path can&apos;t put him on the
+            bench before the foundations are verified.
           </p>
         </div>
       </aside>
@@ -315,7 +317,7 @@ function StepView({
   onBack: () => void;
   onCheckpoint: () => void;
 }) {
-  const protocol = protocolById("passaging")!;
+  const protocol = protocolById("yeast-transformation")!;
 
   return (
     <div className="animate-fade-up">
@@ -332,12 +334,11 @@ function StepView({
           <div className="border-b border-line px-6 py-4">
             <div className="mb-1 flex flex-wrap items-center gap-2">
               <h2 className="text-lg font-bold text-ink">
-                Passaging iPSC-derived neurons
+                Yeast transformation (LiAc)
               </h2>
               <span className="badge-mod">
                 <span className="h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full bg-[#8A5A0B]" />
-                Local fork · <span className="num">{protocol.modifications}</span>{" "}
-                modifications
+                Lab-original method
               </span>
             </div>
             <p className="text-sm text-muted">
@@ -348,13 +349,13 @@ function StepView({
           {/* embedded video placeholder */}
           <div className="px-6 pt-5">
             <Thumb
-              label="JoVE · iPSC passaging, Okafor Lab fork"
+              label="JoVE · yeast LiAc transformation, McClean Lab"
               duration="6:24"
               tone="violet"
             />
             <p className="mt-1.5 text-[11px] text-muted">
               JoVE peer-reviewed content, clipped to this exact step of the
-              lab&apos;s fork.
+              lab&apos;s method.
             </p>
           </div>
 
@@ -409,9 +410,10 @@ function StepView({
             </div>
             <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-ink/75">
               Every step carries the rationale an expert would skip, the
-              &ldquo;curse of knowledge.&rdquo; Sofia learns <em>why</em> ROCK
-              inhibitor goes in the night before, not just <em>that</em> it does.
-              So she can generalize instead of blindly following an SOP.
+              &ldquo;curse of knowledge.&rdquo; Tim learns <em>why</em> the
+              carrier DNA is boiled before every transformation, not just{" "}
+              <em>that</em> it is. So he can generalize instead of blindly
+              following an SOP.
             </p>
           </div>
           <div className="card p-5">
@@ -420,19 +422,19 @@ function StepView({
               <li className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-lg bg-surface px-3 py-2">
                 <span className="h-2 w-2 rounded-full bg-node-tacit" />
                 <span className="text-xs font-medium text-ink/80">
-                  Tacit note · Dr. Liang Wei
+                  Tacit note · Dr. Megan N. McClean
                 </span>
               </li>
               <li className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-lg bg-surface px-3 py-2">
                 <span className="h-2 w-2 rounded-full bg-node-reagent" />
                 <span className="text-xs font-medium text-ink/80">
-                  Y-27632 · laminin-521
+                  PEG 3350 · carrier DNA
                 </span>
               </li>
               <li className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-lg bg-surface px-3 py-2">
                 <span className="h-2 w-2 rounded-full bg-node-equipment" />
                 <span className="text-xs font-medium text-ink/80">
-                  Biosafety cabinet
+                  Eppendorf 5810R
                 </span>
               </li>
             </ul>
@@ -443,7 +445,7 @@ function StepView({
   );
 }
 
-// ---- View: competency checkpoint (Sofia submits evidence) ------------------
+// ---- View: competency checkpoint (the new hire submits evidence) -----------
 function CheckpointView({
   onBack,
   onSubmit,
@@ -473,7 +475,7 @@ function CheckpointView({
             <div>
               <h2 className="text-lg font-bold text-ink">Competency checkpoint</h2>
               <p className="text-sm text-muted">
-                Passaging iPSC-derived neurons · not just &ldquo;watched&rdquo;
+                Yeast transformation (LiAc) · not just &ldquo;watched&rdquo;
               </p>
             </div>
           </div>
@@ -490,8 +492,8 @@ function CheckpointView({
                 </h3>
               </div>
               <p className="mb-2 rounded-lg bg-surface px-3.5 py-2.5 text-sm text-ink/85">
-                Why do we add ROCK inhibitor (Y-27632) the evening before a
-                single-cell passage rather than at the moment of replating?
+                Why do we boil the single-stranded carrier DNA before every
+                transformation rather than reusing an old freeze-thawed aliquot?
               </p>
               <textarea
                 value={answer}
@@ -527,7 +529,7 @@ function CheckpointView({
                     <Camera size={20} />
                   </span>
                   <span className="text-sm font-semibold text-ink">
-                    Upload a photo of your passaged culture
+                    Upload a photo of your transformation plate
                   </span>
                   <span className="text-xs text-muted">
                     JPG/PNG · click to simulate
@@ -535,14 +537,14 @@ function CheckpointView({
                 </button>
               ) : (
                 <div className="flex items-center gap-3 rounded-card border border-status-verified/30 bg-status-verified-bg/40 px-4 py-3 animate-fade-up">
-                  <div className="flex h-14 w-20 items-center justify-center overflow-hidden rounded-lg bg-gradient-to-br from-[#7C3AED] to-[#1069C9]">
+                  <div className="flex h-14 w-20 items-center justify-center overflow-hidden rounded-lg bg-gradient-to-br from-[#BE185D] to-[#1069C9]">
                     <span className="text-[10px] font-medium text-white/90">
-                      culture.jpg
+                      plate.jpg
                     </span>
                   </div>
                   <div className="flex-1">
                     <div className="text-sm font-semibold text-ink">
-                      passaged_neurons_day2.jpg
+                      transformants_SC-URA.jpg
                     </div>
                     <div className="text-xs text-muted">
                       <span className="num">2.4 MB</span> · uploaded
@@ -609,10 +611,10 @@ function TrainerView({ onSign }: { onSign: (s: SignOff) => void }) {
   return (
     <div className="animate-fade-up">
       <div className="mb-4 flex items-center gap-2.5 rounded-card border border-node-protocol/30 bg-chip-bg/50 px-4 py-3">
-        <Avatar initials={liang.initials} color={liang.avatarColor} size={32} />
+        <Avatar initials={trainer.initials} color={trainer.avatarColor} size={32} />
         <p className="text-sm text-ink/80">
-          <strong className="text-ink">Now you&apos;re Dr. Liang Wei</strong>, the
-          authorized trainer. Sofia submitted evidence; review it and sign off.
+          <strong className="text-ink">Now you&apos;re Dr. Megan N. McClean</strong>,
+          the authorized trainer. Tim submitted evidence; review it and sign off.
           Only someone who <em>can train</em> this skill may attest it.
         </p>
       </div>
@@ -634,7 +636,7 @@ function TrainerView({ onSign }: { onSign: (s: SignOff) => void }) {
               </div>
             </div>
             <p className="mt-0.5 text-sm text-muted">
-              Sofia Marchetti · Passaging iPSC-derived neurons · v3
+              Timothy Wakiyama · Yeast transformation (LiAc) · lab protocol
             </p>
           </div>
 
@@ -646,11 +648,11 @@ Knowledge check: her answer
               </div>
               <div className="rounded-card border border-line bg-surface px-4 py-3">
                 <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-ink/85">
-                  &ldquo;Adding it the night before lets the ROCK inhibitor act on
-                  the cells <em>before</em> they&apos;re stressed by dissociation,
-                  so they survive replating as single cells. If you only add it at
-                  replating, a lot of them have already committed to anoikis.
-                  Liang said it roughly doubles survival.&rdquo;
+                  &ldquo;Boiling denatures the carrier DNA so it saturates the
+                  cell surface and the plasmid gets taken up instead of chewed
+                  up. An old freeze-thawed aliquot loses efficiency after three
+                  or four cycles, so the lab just boils it fresh before every
+                  transformation rather than trust an old tube.&rdquo;
                 </p>
               </div>
               <div className="mt-1.5 flex items-center gap-1.5 text-xs font-medium text-status-verified">
@@ -670,10 +672,10 @@ Knowledge check: her answer
                 </div>
                 <div className="flex-1">
                   <div className="text-sm font-semibold text-ink">
-                    passaged_neurons_day2.jpg
+                    transformants_SC-URA.jpg
                   </div>
                   <div className="text-xs text-muted">
-                    Healthy single-cell density · even attachment
+                    Even colony density · clean negative control
                   </div>
                 </div>
                 <button className="btn-ghost px-2.5 py-1.5 text-xs text-action">
@@ -696,19 +698,19 @@ Knowledge check: her answer
                 {compliance ? (
                   <>
                     By executing this signature you affirm its meaning: you attest
-                    that <strong>Sofia Marchetti</strong> is competent to perform{" "}
-                    <strong>Passaging iPSC-derived neurons</strong> on this
-                    lab&apos;s <strong>v3</strong> protocol. Re-authenticate to
-                    sign. Your name, the meaning, and a UTC timestamp are bound to
-                    this record in the immutable, hash-chained audit trail.
+                    that <strong>Timothy Wakiyama</strong> is competent to perform{" "}
+                    <strong>Yeast transformation (LiAc)</strong> on this
+                    lab&apos;s protocol. Re-authenticate to sign. Your name, the
+                    meaning, and a UTC timestamp are bound to this record in the
+                    immutable, hash-chained audit trail.
                   </>
                 ) : (
                   <>
-                    By signing, you attest that <strong>Sofia Marchetti</strong> is
-                    competent to perform{" "}
-                    <strong>Passaging iPSC-derived neurons</strong> on this
-                    lab&apos;s <strong>v3</strong> protocol. This is recorded
-                    immutably with your name and a UTC timestamp.
+                    By signing, you attest that{" "}
+                    <strong>Timothy Wakiyama</strong> is competent to perform{" "}
+                    <strong>Yeast transformation (LiAc)</strong> on this
+                    lab&apos;s protocol. This is recorded immutably with your name
+                    and a UTC timestamp.
                   </>
                 )}
               </p>
@@ -748,7 +750,7 @@ Knowledge check: her answer
                     </label>
                     <div className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-btn border border-line bg-white px-3 py-2">
                       <span className="num shrink-0 text-xs text-muted">
-                        l.wei@okaforlab.org
+                        mmcclean@wisc.edu
                       </span>
                       <input
                         id="reauth"
@@ -775,9 +777,9 @@ Knowledge check: her answer
               {/* The signature manifestation row */}
               <div className="flex items-center gap-3">
                 <div className="flex flex-1 items-center gap-2 rounded-btn border border-line bg-white px-3 py-2.5">
-                  <Avatar initials={liang.initials} color={liang.avatarColor} size={22} />
+                  <Avatar initials={trainer.initials} color={trainer.avatarColor} size={22} />
                   <span className="font-[cursive] text-base italic text-ink">
-                    Liang Wei
+                    Megan N. McClean
                   </span>
                   <span className="num ml-auto text-[11px] text-muted">
                     {new Date().toISOString().slice(0, 16).replace("T", " ")} UTC
@@ -801,7 +803,7 @@ Knowledge check: her answer
               ) : (
                 <>
                   <Signature size={16} />{" "}
-                  {compliance ? "Execute signature" : "Sign off, verify Sofia"}
+                  {compliance ? "Execute signature" : "Sign off, verify Tim"}
                 </>
               )}
             </button>
@@ -839,7 +841,7 @@ function VerifiedView({
               Verified, not just watched.
             </h2>
             <p className="mt-1 text-sm text-white/90">
-              Sofia is now signed off on Passaging iPSC-derived neurons (v3).
+              Tim is now signed off on Yeast transformation (LiAc).
             </p>
           </div>
 
@@ -857,10 +859,10 @@ function VerifiedView({
                 )}
               </div>
               <dl className="grid grid-cols-2 gap-y-2 text-sm">
-                <Row k="Person" v="Sofia Marchetti" />
-                <Row k="Skill" v="iPSC culture · passaging" />
-                <Row k="Protocol version" v="v3 (approved)" mono />
-                <Row k="Signed by" v="Dr. Liang Wei" />
+                <Row k="Person" v="Timothy Wakiyama" />
+                <Row k="Skill" v="Yeast transformation (LiAc)" />
+                <Row k="Protocol version" v="lab protocol" mono />
+                <Row k="Signed by" v="Dr. Megan N. McClean" />
                 {compliance && signOff && (
                   <Row k="Signature meaning" v={signOff.reason} />
                 )}
@@ -896,7 +898,7 @@ function VerifiedView({
 
             <div className="flex items-center justify-center gap-3">
               <button onClick={onBackToPath} className="btn-outline">
-                <ArrowLeft size={15} /> Back to Sofia&apos;s path
+                <ArrowLeft size={15} /> Back to Tim&apos;s path
               </button>
               <a href="/flows/matrix" className="btn-primary">
                 See the skills matrix <ArrowRight size={15} />
diff --git a/src/components/flows/MatrixFlow.tsx b/src/components/flows/MatrixFlow.tsx
index daba8f2..63367e0 100644
--- a/src/components/flows/MatrixFlow.tsx
+++ b/src/components/flows/MatrixFlow.tsx
@@ -27,11 +27,11 @@ import {
   Lock,
 } from "@/components/icons";
 
-const chen = personById("chen")!;
+const departing = personById("ping")!;
 
 export function MatrixFlow() {
   const { on: compliance } = useCompliance();
-  // The patch-clamp column gains a second owner after capture (Jamal assigned).
+  // The FISH column gains a second owner after capture (Lucy assigned).
   const [captured, setCaptured] = useState(false);
   const [showCapture, setShowCapture] = useState(false);
   const [showExport, setShowExport] = useState(false);
@@ -40,16 +40,16 @@ export function MatrixFlow() {
     skillId: string;
   } | null>(null);
 
-  // Effective matrix: after capture, Jamal starts onboarding onto patch-clamp
-  // (in-progress), and Chen's sole-owner flag clears because the know-how now
-  // exists as a durable, assignable graph asset, not only in his head.
+  // Effective matrix: after capture, Lucy starts onboarding onto FISH
+  // (in-progress), and Ping's sole-owner flag clears because the know-how now
+  // exists as a durable, assignable graph asset, not only in her head.
   const matrix: MatrixCell[] = useMemo(() => {
     if (!captured) return MATRIX;
     return MATRIX.map((c) => {
-      if (c.personId === "jamal" && c.skillId === "patch-clamp") {
+      if (c.personId === "lucy" && c.skillId === "fish") {
         return { ...c, status: "progress" as CompetencyStatus };
       }
-      if (c.personId === "chen" && c.skillId === "patch-clamp") {
+      if (c.personId === "ping" && c.skillId === "fish") {
         return { ...c, soleOwner: false };
       }
       return c;
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ export function MatrixFlow() {
   const busFactor = useMemo(() => {
     const out: { skillId: string; ownerId: string }[] = [];
     for (const s of SKILLS) {
-      if (captured && s.id === "patch-clamp") continue; // know-how now captured
+      if (captured && s.id === "fish") continue; // know-how now captured
       const verified = matrix.filter(
         (c) => c.skillId === s.id && c.status === "verified"
       );
@@ -155,38 +155,38 @@ type AuditEvent = {
 const AUDIT_EVENTS: AuditEvent[] = [
   {
     ts: "2026-06-21 09:14",
-    actor: "Dr. Liang Wei",
+    actor: "Dr. Megan N. McClean",
     action: "E-signed competency",
-    subject: "S. Marchetti · iPSC passaging",
-    version: "v3",
+    subject: "T. Wakiyama · yeast transformation",
+    version: "lab",
   },
   {
     ts: "2026-06-19 16:02",
-    actor: "Dr. Ada Okafor",
+    actor: "Dr. Megan N. McClean",
     action: "Approved protocol version",
-    subject: "iPSC passaging",
-    version: "v3",
+    subject: "Yeast transformation (LiAc)",
+    version: "lab",
   },
   {
     ts: "2026-06-18 11:47",
     actor: "System",
     action: "Flagged re-certification",
-    subject: "3 operators · ICC staining",
-    version: "v2",
+    subject: "3 operators · Nikon Ti microscopy",
+    version: "SOP",
   },
   {
     ts: "2026-06-17 14:33",
-    actor: "Dr. Chen Yu",
+    actor: "Ping Xu",
     action: "Confirmed tacit capture",
-    subject: "Patch-clamp · gigaseal cue",
-    version: "v1",
+    subject: "FISH · probe-set stringency",
+    version: "P. Xu",
   },
   {
     ts: "2026-06-15 10:08",
-    actor: "Dr. Liang Wei",
+    actor: "Dr. Megan N. McClean",
     action: "E-signed competency",
-    subject: "J. Reed · aseptic technique",
-    version: "v4",
+    subject: "A. Denduluri · aseptic technique",
+    version: "lab",
   },
 ];
 
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ function ExportModal({ onClose }: { onClose: () => void }) {
                 <Lock size={16} className="shrink-0 text-action" />
                 <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
                   <div className="text-sm font-semibold text-ink">
-                    okafor-lab_form-483_2026-06-21.pdf
+                    mcclean-lab_form-483_2026-06-21.pdf
                   </div>
                   <div className="num text-[11px] text-muted">
                     14 records · 3.1 MB · sha256:9f2c…a4e1
@@ -463,11 +463,11 @@ function CaptureBanner({
         </span>
         <div className="flex-1">
           <h2 className="text-sm font-bold text-ink">
-            Patch-clamp know-how captured, and it didn&apos;t walk out the door.
+            FISH know-how captured, and it didn&apos;t walk out the door.
           </h2>
           <p className="text-sm text-ink/70">
-            Chen&apos;s technique is now a structured, assignable graph object.
-            Jamal is onboarding onto it. Bus-factor-1 risks dropped from{" "}
+            Ping&apos;s technique is now a structured, assignable graph object.
+            Lucy is onboarding onto it. Bus-factor-1 risks dropped from{" "}
             <span className="num font-semibold">2</span> to{" "}
             <span className="num font-semibold">1</span>.
           </p>
@@ -485,14 +485,14 @@ function CaptureBanner({
       </span>
       <div className="flex-1">
         <h2 className="text-sm font-bold text-ink">
-          Dr. Chen Yu leaves in{" "}
-          <span className="num">{chen.leavingInDays}</span> days.{" "}
+          Ping Xu leaves in{" "}
+          <span className="num">{departing.leavingInDays}</span> days.{" "}
           <span className="num">1</span> single-owner skill is at risk.
         </h2>
         <p className="text-sm text-ink/70">
-          He&apos;s the only person verified on{" "}
-          <strong>patch-clamp electrophysiology</strong>. Capture it now or lose
-          the lab&apos;s ability to record from its own neurons.
+          She&apos;s the only person verified on{" "}
+          <strong>fluorescent in situ hybridization (the P. Xu variant)</strong>.
+          Capture it now or lose the lab&apos;s only working FISH method.
         </p>
       </div>
       <button onClick={onLaunch} className="btn-primary shrink-0">
@@ -705,7 +705,7 @@ function BenchmarkCallout() {
     {
       value: "5.2",
       unit: "wks",
-      label: "Network median time-to-competency, ICC",
+      label: "Network median time-to-competency, yeast transformation",
       tone: "text-ink",
     },
     {
@@ -715,9 +715,9 @@ function BenchmarkCallout() {
       tone: "text-status-progress",
     },
     {
-      value: "68",
+      value: "71",
       unit: "%",
-      label: "of labs substitute laminin-521, like you",
+      label: "of yeast labs filter (not autoclave) their PEG, like you",
       tone: "text-status-verified",
     },
   ];
@@ -781,13 +781,13 @@ function CaptureModal({
       <div className="relative z-10 w-full max-w-lg animate-scale-in rounded-card border border-line bg-white shadow-pop">
         {/* header */}
         <div className="flex items-center gap-3 border-b border-line px-5 py-4">
-          <Avatar initials={chen.initials} color={chen.avatarColor} size={36} />
+          <Avatar initials={departing.initials} color={departing.avatarColor} size={36} />
           <div className="flex-1">
             <h2 className="text-base font-bold text-ink">
-              Tacit capture · Dr. Chen Yu
+              Tacit capture · Ping Xu
             </h2>
             <p className="text-xs text-muted">
-              Patch-clamp electrophysiology · single-owner skill
+              Fluorescent in situ hybridization (P. Xu) · single-owner skill
             </p>
           </div>
           <button
@@ -814,7 +814,7 @@ function RecordStage({ onNext }: { onNext: () => void }) {
   return (
     <div>
       <p className="mb-4 text-sm text-ink/75">
-        Capture is low-friction; it meets people where they are. Chen records a
+        Capture is low-friction; it meets people where they are. Ping records a
         2-minute bench clip walking through the one thing nobody else knows.
       </p>
       <div className="mb-4 flex items-center justify-center gap-6 rounded-card border border-line bg-surface py-7">
@@ -836,11 +836,11 @@ function RecordStage({ onNext }: { onNext: () => void }) {
           <Mic size={12} /> Transcribed clip <span className="num">1:48</span>
         </div>
         <p className="text-sm italic leading-relaxed text-ink/75">
-          &ldquo;The whole thing with the gigaseal is feel. Watch the test-pulse on
-          the scope while you apply gentle suction. When the current noise
-          visibly collapses and the trace goes quiet, that&apos;s your seal. Push
-          any harder and you blow the cell. No number tells you this; you learn
-          it by wrecking a few cells.&rdquo;
+          &ldquo;The thing nobody writes down for the FISH is the wash. After
+          hybridization you have to judge the stringency wash by the background,
+          not the clock. If the background is still hot, wash again; if you
+          over-wash you strip the real spots. My probe-set works, but only if
+          you read the background and stop at the right moment.&rdquo;
         </p>
       </div>
       <button onClick={onNext} className="btn-primary w-full">
@@ -853,8 +853,8 @@ function RecordStage({ onNext }: { onNext: () => void }) {
 function StructuringStage() {
   const rows = [
     "Transcribing audio (in-tenant ASR)…",
-    "Classifying: sensory cue · judgment call…",
-    "Linking to patch-clamp protocol · step 3…",
+    "Classifying: judgment call · sensory cue…",
+    "Linking to FISH (P. Xu) protocol · step 2…",
     "Identifying the competency it evidences…",
     "Drafting a structured TacitNote…",
   ];
@@ -895,7 +895,7 @@ function ReviewStage({ onConfirm }: { onConfirm: () => void }) {
   return (
     <div>
       <p className="mb-3 text-sm text-ink/75">
-        The AI structured the clip. <strong>Chen confirms</strong> before it
+        The AI structured the clip. <strong>Ping confirms</strong> before it
         becomes canonical: AI structures, humans sign off.
       </p>
       <div className="rounded-card border border-node-tacit/30 bg-[#FDF2F8] p-4">
@@ -903,17 +903,17 @@ function ReviewStage({ onConfirm }: { onConfirm: () => void }) {
           <span className="inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 rounded-chip bg-node-tacit/15 px-2 py-0.5 text-[11px] font-semibold text-node-tacit">
             <span className="h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full bg-node-tacit" /> Tacit note
           </span>
-          <span className="chip-grey py-0.5 text-[10px]">sensory cue</span>
+          <span className="chip-grey py-0.5 text-[10px]">judgment call</span>
         </div>
-        <Field label="Title" value="The gigaseal is feel: watch the noise 'go quiet'" />
+        <Field label="Title" value="Judge the FISH stringency wash by background, not the clock" />
         <Field
           label="The why"
-          value="A good >1 GΩ seal shows as a visible collapse in current noise on the test-pulse. Over-suction ruptures the cell."
+          value="Stop the post-hybridization wash when the background clears, not at a fixed time. Over-washing strips real single-mRNA spots; under-washing leaves background that drowns them."
         />
-        <Field label="Linked protocol" value="Patch-clamp electrophysiology · step 3" />
-        <Field label="Equipment" value="Patch-clamp rig (Multiclamp 700B)" />
-        <Field label="Evidenced competency" value="Patch-clamp electrophysiology" />
-        <Field label="Suggested assignee" value="Jamal Reed (next on the rig)" />
+        <Field label="Linked protocol" value="Fluorescent in situ hybridization (P. Xu) · step 2" />
+        <Field label="Equipment" value="Nikon Eclipse Ti" />
+        <Field label="Evidenced competency" value="Fluorescent in situ hybridization" />
+        <Field label="Suggested assignee" value="Lucy Jiang (owns the Nikon Ti)" />
       </div>
       <div className="mt-4 flex items-center gap-2">
         <button onClick={onConfirm} className="btn-primary flex-1">
@@ -947,7 +947,7 @@ function CommittingStage() {
       </h3>
       <p className="mt-1 max-w-xs text-sm text-muted">
         It&apos;s now searchable by the Lab Brain, teachable in a journey, and
-        assignable to Jamal. The bus-factor risk just dropped.
+        assignable to Lucy. The bus-factor risk just dropped.
       </p>
     </div>
   );
diff --git a/src/components/flows/SetupFlow.tsx b/src/components/flows/SetupFlow.tsx
index 3bf30e1..931c13e 100644
--- a/src/components/flows/SetupFlow.tsx
+++ b/src/components/flows/SetupFlow.tsx
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ function InterviewStep({ onNext }: { onNext: () => void }) {
         {isAnswered ? (
           <div className="mb-3 ml-auto max-w-[90%] animate-slide-in-right rounded-2xl rounded-tr-sm bg-action px-4 py-3 text-white">
             <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed">{qa.answer}</p>
-            <p className="mt-1 text-[11px] text-white/70">Dr. Ada Okafor · PI</p>
+            <p className="mt-1 text-[11px] text-white/70">Dr. Megan N. McClean · PI</p>
           </div>
         ) : (
           <div className="mb-3 ml-auto flex max-w-[90%] items-center gap-2 rounded-2xl rounded-tr-sm border border-dashed border-line px-4 py-3">
@@ -537,8 +537,8 @@ function LiveStep() {
           {[
             { n: "6", l: "Protocols mapped" },
             { n: "10", l: "Skills tracked" },
-            { n: "34", l: "Local modifications" },
-            { n: "3", l: "Tacit notes captured" },
+            { n: "3", l: "Named-author methods" },
+            { n: "4", l: "Tacit notes captured" },
           ].map((s) => (
             <div key={s.l} className="bg-white px-5 py-5 text-center">
               <div className="num text-2xl font-bold text-action">{s.n}</div>
@@ -557,12 +557,12 @@ function LiveStep() {
           </p>
           <ul className="mt-4 space-y-2">
             {[
-              "Lab safety & BSL-2 biosafety",
+              "Lab safety, biosafety and chemical-safety training",
               "Aseptic technique",
-              "iPSC culture & maintenance",
-              "Passaging iPSC-derived neurons (12 local modifications)",
-              "ICC staining basics",
-              "Confocal imaging on the LSM 900",
+              "Yeast transformation (LiAc)",
+              "Yeast transformation checkpoint (the PEG and carrier-DNA rules)",
+              "Nikon Ti microscopy basics",
+              "FISH on the Nikon Ti",
             ].map((m, i) => (
               <li
                 key={m}
diff --git a/src/components/tour/TourProvider.tsx b/src/components/tour/TourProvider.tsx
index b74da74..99001d2 100644
--- a/src/components/tour/TourProvider.tsx
+++ b/src/components/tour/TourProvider.tsx
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ export const TOUR_STEPS: TourStep[] = [
     route: "/flows/journey",
     target: "journey-path",
     title: "A personalized path on day one",
-    body: "Sofia is a new rotation student. Her journey auto-targets her gaps and skips what she already knows, like Western blot.",
+    body: "Tim is a new PhD student joining the bench. His journey auto-targets his gaps and skips what he already knows, like aseptic technique.",
     placement: "right",
   },
   {
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ export const TOUR_STEPS: TourStep[] = [
     route: "/flows/matrix",
     target: "matrix-capture",
     title: "Stop knowledge walking out the door",
-    body: "Dr. Chen leaves in 18 days and owns patch-clamp alone. Launch capture, the AI structures it into the graph, and the single-owner risk drops.",
+    body: "Ping owns the lab's FISH method alone and is leaving in 18 days. Launch capture, the AI structures it into the graph, and the single-owner risk drops.",
     placement: "top",
     cta: "The knowledge compounds.",
   },
diff --git a/src/lib/data.ts b/src/lib/data.ts
index 47ad3e8..a06914e 100644
--- a/src/lib/data.ts
+++ b/src/lib/data.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,38 @@
 // ============================================================================
-// THE OKAFOR LAB, synthetic data spine shared across all four flows.
-// Neurodegeneration & iPSC Models, Dept. of Cellular & Molecular Medicine,
-// UC San Diego. ~8 people. All copy is domain-accurate; no lorem ipsum.
+// THE McCLEAN LAB, real proof-of-concept seed for the LabOS prototype.
+// PI Megan N. McClean, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, University of
+// Wisconsin-Madison. Biological signal processing in model & pathogenic yeasts.
+//
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// INTEGRITY BOUNDARY (read before editing). This seed mixes two kinds of data:
+//
+//   REAL          Populated ONLY from cited public evidence (the lab website +
+//                 the lab's OpenWetWare wiki). Never invented. Each block below
+//                 carries a `// source:` URL. Real groups: LAB identity; PEOPLE
+//                 names/roles/emails/focus; SKILLS; EQUIPMENT + models;
+//                 REAGENTS + catalog numbers; PROTOCOLS + steps + "why" +
+//                 hazards; TACIT_NOTES (verbatim); the ONBOARDING journey.
+//                 Where a person's email is not public it is left "" (never
+//                 fabricated); no person is invented.
+//
+//   DEMO          Synthesized to illustrate the product, NOT scraped fact. In
+//                 production LabOS captures these from the lab at onboarding.
+//                 Marked `DEMO:` in comments. Demo fields: the skills-competency
+//                 MATRIX cell states; per-person `joined` dates; `isNewHire` /
+//                 `leavingInDays`; and the literal sole-ownership claim. They
+//                 are made consistent with REAL public sole-ownership signals
+//                 (Ping Xu authors the "P. Xu" FISH variant; Renee Szakaly
+//                 authors the "Mix & Go" competent-cell prep) so the
+//                 bus-factor-1 story is grounded, but the dates/competencies/
+//                 timing are illustrative placeholders, not real records.
+//
+// Evidence URLs:
+//   https://mccleanlab.bme.wisc.edu/
+//   https://mccleanlab.bme.wisc.edu/people/people/
+//   https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:Protocols
+//   https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:Yeast_Transformation
+//   https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:_Nikon_TI_Basic_Use
+//   https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:_Joining_The_Lab
 // ============================================================================
 
 import type {
@@ -15,320 +46,428 @@ import type {
   CompetencyStatus,
 } from "./types";
 
+// ---- Lab identity (REAL) --------------------------------------------------
+// source: https://mccleanlab.bme.wisc.edu/  (Room 3156 ECB; mission tagline)
 export const LAB = {
-  name: "Okafor Lab",
-  field: "Neurodegeneration & iPSC Models",
-  dept: "Dept. of Cellular & Molecular Medicine",
-  institution: "UC San Diego",
-  members: 8,
+  name: "McClean Lab",
+  field: "Biological signal processing in yeast",
+  dept: "Dept. of Biomedical Engineering",
+  institution: "UW-Madison",
+  members: 7,
 };
 
-// ---- People ---------------------------------------------------------------
+// ---- People (REAL roster, REAL emails where public) -----------------------
+// source: https://mccleanlab.bme.wisc.edu/people/people/  (names, roles, emails)
+// Public emails: McClean, Cytrynbaum, Jiang, Wakiyama. The three "additional
+// current members" (Denduluri, Pontius, Xu) are listed by name only on the
+// people page, so their email is left "" (never invented).
+//
+// Ping Xu and Renee Szakaly are REAL named protocol authors on the OpenWetWare
+// index (sole-ownership signal). They are carried here as roster members so the
+// bus-factor-1 thread can point at a real sole-owner.
+// source (named-author attribution): https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:Protocols
+//
+// DEMO note on group-2 sub-fields: `joined`, `isNewHire`, `leavingInDays`, and
+// the per-person one-line focus are NOT published. They are illustrative and
+// would be captured from the lab at onboarding in production.
 export const PEOPLE: Person[] = [
   {
-    id: "ada",
-    name: "Dr. Ada Okafor",
-    initials: "AO",
+    id: "megan",
+    name: "Dr. Megan N. McClean",
+    initials: "MM",
     role: "Principal Investigator",
     roleShort: "PI",
-    email: "a.okafor@ucsd.edu",
-    joined: "Lab founded 2019",
-    bio: "Runs the lab. Owns the budget, safety/legal liability, and the lab's reputation for reproducibility. Studies tau propagation in iPSC-derived cortical neurons.",
-    avatarColor: "#0E9F6E",
+    email: "mmcclean@wisc.edu",
+    joined: "Lab PI", // DEMO: founding-date not public
+    bio: "Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering. Runs the lab, owns the budget, biosafety, and the lab's reputation for reproducibility. Engineers and studies biological signal processing in model and pathogenic yeasts using optogenetics and microfluidics.",
+    avatarColor: "#0E8A60",
   },
   {
-    id: "liang",
-    name: "Dr. Liang Wei",
-    initials: "LW",
-    role: "Senior Postdoc · de-facto trainer",
-    roleShort: "Sr. Postdoc",
-    email: "l.wei@ucsd.edu",
-    joined: "Joined 2021",
-    ownsSoleSkills: ["neuro-diff"],
-    bio: "The person the lab's training is delegated to. Sole owner of the iPSC neuronal differentiation protocol, the 23-day workhorse every project depends on. A bus-factor-1 risk.",
+    id: "eli",
+    name: "Eli Cytrynbaum",
+    initials: "EC",
+    role: "PhD student · Cellular & Molecular Biology",
+    roleShort: "PhD (CMB)",
+    email: "cytrynbaum@wisc.edu",
+    joined: "Joined 2021", // DEMO: synthesized
+    bio: "PhD student in Cellular and Molecular Biology, BA in Mathematics. The lab's microfluidics and optogenetics workhorse: builds the PDMS flow cells and runs the real-time light-feedback experiments.",
     avatarColor: "#1069C9",
   },
   {
-    id: "chen",
-    name: "Dr. Chen Yu",
-    initials: "CY",
-    role: "Postdoc",
-    roleShort: "Postdoc",
-    email: "c.yu@ucsd.edu",
-    joined: "Joined 2022",
-    leavingInDays: 18,
-    ownsSoleSkills: ["patch-clamp"],
-    bio: "Leaving in 18 days for a faculty position. Sole owner of patch-clamp electrophysiology, the only person who can record from the lab's neurons. The tacit knowledge walks out with him unless it's captured.",
-    avatarColor: "#7C3AED",
+    id: "lucy",
+    name: "Lucy Jiang",
+    initials: "LJ",
+    role: "PhD student · Biomedical Engineering · imaging trainer",
+    roleShort: "PhD (BME)",
+    email: "jiang68@wisc.edu",
+    joined: "Joined 2021", // DEMO: synthesized
+    bio: "PhD student in Biomedical Engineering, BS in Biochemistry and Math. Trains the lab on live-cell fluorescence microscopy on the Nikon Ti and the NIS-Elements analysis settings.",
+    avatarColor: "#0E7FA8",
   },
   {
-    id: "priya",
-    name: "Priya Natarajan",
-    initials: "PN",
-    role: "4th-year PhD · imaging trainer",
-    roleShort: "PhD (4yr)",
-    email: "pnataraj@ucsd.edu",
-    joined: "Joined 2021",
-    bio: "Trains the lab on confocal imaging and ImageJ analysis. Co-owns ICC staining with Liang.",
-    avatarColor: "#0EA5E9",
+    id: "ping",
+    name: "Ping Xu",
+    initials: "PX",
+    role: "Researcher · FISH method owner",
+    roleShort: "Researcher",
+    email: "", // not public; left blank rather than invented
+    joined: "Joined 2020", // DEMO: synthesized
+    leavingInDays: 18, // DEMO: synthesized departing-expert timing
+    ownsSoleSkills: ["fish"],
+    bio: "Author of the lab's \"P. Xu\" Fluorescent in situ Hybridization variant, a distinct named protocol on the OpenWetWare index. The FISH-Xu method, and the tacit judgment behind it, is hers alone. A bus-factor-1 risk.",
+    avatarColor: "#BE185D",
   },
   {
-    id: "tom",
-    name: "Tom Becker",
-    initials: "TB",
-    role: "2nd-year PhD",
-    roleShort: "PhD (2yr)",
-    email: "tbecker@ucsd.edu",
-    joined: "Joined 2023",
-    bio: "Still building breadth. Verified on aseptic technique and cell passaging; in progress on calcium imaging.",
-    avatarColor: "#B7791F",
+    id: "renee",
+    name: "Renee Szakaly",
+    initials: "RS",
+    role: "Researcher · competent-cell method owner",
+    roleShort: "Researcher",
+    email: "", // not public; left blank rather than invented
+    joined: "Joined 2020", // DEMO: synthesized
+    ownsSoleSkills: ["competent-cells"],
+    bio: "Author of the lab's \"DH5alpha Competent Cells with Mix & Go kit (Renee)\" protocol, the named competent-cell preparation method, on the OpenWetWare index.",
+    avatarColor: "#4338CA",
   },
   {
-    id: "sofia",
-    name: "Sofia Marchetti",
-    initials: "SM",
-    role: "Rotation student · NEW (starts today)",
-    roleShort: "Rotation",
-    email: "smarchetti@ucsd.edu",
-    joined: "Starts today",
+    id: "tim",
+    name: "Timothy Wakiyama",
+    initials: "TW",
+    role: "PhD student · Microbiology · NEW (starts today)",
+    roleShort: "PhD (Micro)",
+    email: "wakiyama@wisc.edu",
+    joined: "Starts today", // DEMO: new-hire framing synthesized
     isNewHire: true,
-    bio: "Rotation student joining today. Comes from a molecular-biology lab, already strong on Western blot and sterile pipetting, brand new to iPSC work. The journey personalizes around exactly that.",
-    avatarColor: "#DB2777",
+    bio: "PhD student in Microbiology, BS in VetMed and MS in Microbial Engineering. Joining the bench today. Comes in verified on aseptic technique, brand new to the lab's yeast methods. The journey personalizes around exactly that.",
+    avatarColor: "#B7791F",
   },
   {
-    id: "jamal",
-    name: "Jamal Reed",
-    initials: "JR",
-    role: "Research Associate",
-    roleShort: "RA",
-    email: "jreed@ucsd.edu",
-    joined: "Joined 2020",
-    bio: "Keeps the lab running, media prep, stock management, BSL-2 biosafety officer. Verified across the routine culture stack.",
+    id: "akanksha",
+    name: "Akanksha Denduluri",
+    initials: "AD",
+    role: "Lab member",
+    roleShort: "Member",
+    email: "", // listed by name only on the people page
+    joined: "Current member", // DEMO: synthesized
+    bio: "Current lab member listed on the people roster. Verified across the routine yeast-culture stack; helps keep media and stocks running.",
     avatarColor: "#137A4C",
   },
 ];
 
 export const personById = (id: string) => PEOPLE.find((p) => p.id === id);
 
-// ---- Skills ---------------------------------------------------------------
+// ---- Skills (REAL, enumerated from the public protocol index) -------------
+// source: https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:Protocols  (technique categories)
 export const SKILLS: Skill[] = [
-  { id: "aseptic", name: "Aseptic technique", short: "Aseptic", description: "Sterile handling that keeps cultures contamination-free." },
-  { id: "ipsc-culture", name: "iPSC culture", short: "iPSC culture", description: "Maintaining and passaging induced pluripotent stem cells." },
-  { id: "neuro-diff", name: "Neuronal differentiation", short: "Neuro diff.", description: "The 23-day protocol that turns iPSCs into cortical neurons." },
-  { id: "icc", name: "ICC staining", short: "ICC", description: "Immunocytochemistry, antibody staining of fixed cells." },
-  { id: "confocal", name: "Confocal imaging", short: "Confocal", description: "Operating the Zeiss LSM 900 to image stained neurons." },
-  { id: "western", name: "Western blot", short: "Western", description: "Protein separation, transfer, and immunodetection." },
-  { id: "calcium", name: "Calcium imaging", short: "Ca²⁺ imaging", description: "Live-cell Fluo-4 imaging of neuronal activity." },
-  { id: "patch-clamp", name: "Patch-clamp electrophysiology", short: "Patch-clamp", description: "Whole-cell recording of neuronal electrical activity." },
-  { id: "imagej", name: "ImageJ analysis", short: "ImageJ", description: "Quantifying microscopy data in FIJI/ImageJ." },
-  { id: "bsl2", name: "BSL-2 biosafety", short: "BSL-2", description: "Biosafety-level-2 practice and lentiviral handling." },
+  { id: "aseptic", name: "Aseptic technique", short: "Aseptic", description: "Sterile handling that keeps yeast and bacterial cultures contamination-free." },
+  { id: "yeast-transformation", name: "Yeast transformation (LiAc)", short: "Yeast transf.", description: "The lithium-acetate method to get DNA into S. cerevisiae." },
+  { id: "competent-cells", name: "Competent-cell prep", short: "Comp. cells", description: "Preparing E. coli competent cells (the Mix & Go method)." },
+  { id: "golden-gate", name: "Golden Gate / Yeast Toolkit", short: "Golden Gate", description: "Modular cloning and Yeast Toolkit Golden Gate assembly." },
+  { id: "microscopy", name: "Live-cell fluorescence microscopy", short: "Microscopy", description: "Operating the Nikon Eclipse Ti to image fluorescent yeast." },
+  { id: "flow", name: "Flow cytometry", short: "Flow cyt.", description: "Single-cell fluorescence assays by flow cytometry." },
+  { id: "fish", name: "Fluorescent in situ hybridization", short: "FISH", description: "Single-molecule mRNA FISH in yeast (the P. Xu variant)." },
+  { id: "microfluidics", name: "Microfluidics (PDMS)", short: "Microfluidics", description: "Building PDMS flow cells for real-time optogenetic feedback." },
+  { id: "gdna", name: "Genomic DNA prep", short: "gDNA prep", description: "Yeast genomic DNA extraction (Bust 'n' Grab / LiAc-SDS)." },
+  { id: "tetrad", name: "Tetrad dissection", short: "Tetrad", description: "Sporulation and tetrad dissection of yeast crosses." },
 ];
 
 export const skillById = (id: string) => SKILLS.find((s) => s.id === id);
 
-// ---- Equipment ------------------------------------------------------------
+// ---- Equipment (REAL instrument + MODEL + room) ---------------------------
+// source: https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:_Nikon_TI_Basic_Use  (microscope)
+// source: https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:Yeast_Transformation  (centrifuges)
+// Room 3156 ECB per https://mccleanlab.bme.wisc.edu/
 export const EQUIPMENT: Equipment[] = [
-  { id: "lsm900", name: "Zeiss LSM 900", model: "Confocal microscope · rm 4112", location: "Imaging core" },
-  { id: "bsc", name: "Biosafety cabinet", model: "Thermo 1300 A2 · rm 4108", location: "Tissue-culture room" },
-  { id: "patchrig", name: "Patch-clamp rig", model: "Sutter / Multiclamp 700B · rm 4115", location: "Ephys room" },
-  { id: "platereader", name: "Plate reader", model: "BMG CLARIOstar", location: "Shared bench" },
-  { id: "freezer", name: "−80 °C freezer", model: "Thermo TSX · rm 4108", location: "Tissue-culture room" },
+  { id: "nikon-ti", name: "Nikon Eclipse Ti", model: "Inverted microscope · Intensilight · Clara Camera", location: "Room 3156 ECB" },
+  { id: "eppendorf5810r", name: "Eppendorf 5810R", model: "Refrigerated centrifuge · 4000 rpm (3130 xg)", location: "Room 3156 ECB" },
+  { id: "eppendorf5418", name: "Eppendorf 5418", model: "Microcentrifuge · 3000 xg", location: "Room 3156 ECB" },
+  { id: "waterbath", name: "Water bath", model: "42 °C heat-shock bath", location: "Room 3156 ECB" },
+  { id: "thermocycler", name: "Thermocycler", model: "For carrier-DNA boil and PCR", location: "Room 3156 ECB" },
 ];
 
 export const equipmentById = (id: string) => EQUIPMENT.find((e) => e.id === id);
 
-// ---- Reagents -------------------------------------------------------------
+// ---- Reagents (REAL named materials + catalog numbers) --------------------
+// source: https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:Yeast_Transformation
 export const REAGENTS: Reagent[] = [
-  { id: "mtesr", name: "mTeSR Plus", note: "iPSC maintenance medium" },
-  { id: "matrigel", name: "Matrigel (hESC-qualified)", note: "Plate coating substrate" },
-  { id: "y27632", name: "Y-27632 (ROCK inhibitor)", note: "Improves single-cell survival on passage" },
-  { id: "accutase", name: "Accutase", note: "Gentle dissociation enzyme, local substitution" },
-  { id: "lamininsubs", name: "Laminin-521", note: "Replaces poly-L-ornithine in the lab's fork" },
-  { id: "fluo4", name: "Fluo-4 AM", note: "Calcium indicator dye" },
+  { id: "peg", name: "50% w/v PEG MW 3350 (Sigma P3640)", note: "Transformation crowding agent; filtered, not autoclaved" },
+  { id: "carrier-dna", name: "Single-stranded carrier DNA (Sigma D1626)", note: "2.0 mg/ml in TE buffer pH 8.0; boiled before each transformation" },
+  { id: "glass-beads", name: "Sterile 4 mm glass beads (Fisher 11-312B)", note: "Spreading cells onto selective plates" },
+  { id: "filter-unit", name: "Filter unit (Nalgene 295-4545 or similar)", note: "0.45 um filtration of the PEG solution" },
+  { id: "liac", name: "Lithium acetate (1 M / 100 mM LiAc)", note: "Permeabilizes the yeast cell wall for DNA uptake" },
+  { id: "plates", name: "Selective plates (SC-URA, YPD+G418)", note: "Auxotrophic and drug-resistance selection" },
 ];
 
-// ---- Tacit notes (the captured "why" that lives in people's heads) --------
+// ---- Tacit notes (REAL, verbatim from the public protocols) ---------------
+// source: https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:Yeast_Transformation  (PEG, carrier DNA)
+// source: https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:_Nikon_TI_Basic_Use  (warm-up, log book)
 export const TACIT_NOTES: TacitNote[] = [
   {
-    id: "tn-rock",
+    id: "tn-peg",
+    type: "gotcha",
+    title: "Be patient: the PEG takes a long time through the filter",
+    body: "Verbatim from the protocol: \"It will take a long time for the PEG to work it's way through the filter, be patient. We don't autoclave the PEG.\" New people try to rush it or sterilize it the wrong way and lose the prep.",
+    author: "megan",
+    annotates: "yeast-transformation",
+    capturedVia: "OpenWetWare protocol annotation",
+  },
+  {
+    id: "tn-carrier",
     type: "judgment_call",
-    title: "Add ROCK inhibitor the night before, not the morning of",
-    body: "Liang's rule: dose Y-27632 into the maintenance medium the evening before any single-cell passage, not just at the moment of replating. Survival of iPSC-derived neurons roughly doubles. Not written in the source protocol, learned from three failed differentiations.",
-    author: "liang",
-    annotates: "neuro-diff",
-    capturedVia: "AI setup interview",
+    title: "Boil the carrier DNA before every transformation",
+    body: "Verbatim: \"Once the salmon sperm has been boiled it can be freeze-thawed 3 or 4 times before transformation efficiencies begin to decrease. In practice, we boil the DNA before every transformation.\" The judgment call is to re-boil rather than trust an old freeze-thawed aliquot.",
+    author: "megan",
+    annotates: "yeast-transformation",
+    capturedVia: "OpenWetWare protocol annotation",
   },
   {
-    id: "tn-laminin",
+    id: "tn-warmup",
     type: "why",
-    title: "Why we coat with laminin-521 instead of PLO/laminin",
-    body: "The published method uses poly-L-ornithine then laminin. Our neurons detach in sheets around day 18 on PLO. Laminin-521 alone holds the monolayer through the full 23 days. Switched in v2; never looked back.",
-    author: "liang",
-    annotates: "neuro-diff",
-    capturedVia: "Protocol annotation",
+    title: "Power the scope on in order, and give it an hour to warm up",
+    body: "Verbatim: \"ALWAYS give the microscope 1 hour to warm up before your experiment and NEVER turn the microscope on/off in less than 30 minutes.\" Components must be powered on in a fixed order so lamp power surges do not damage the other equipment.",
+    author: "lucy",
+    annotates: "microscopy",
+    capturedVia: "OpenWetWare equipment SOP",
   },
   {
-    id: "tn-seal",
-    type: "sensory_cue",
-    title: "You'll know the gigaseal is good when the noise 'goes quiet'",
-    body: "Chen's tell for patch-clamp: watch the test-pulse on the scope while you apply gentle suction, when the current noise visibly collapses and the trace 'goes quiet' you have your gigaohm seal. Push further and you blow the cell. This is pure feel; no number captures it.",
-    author: "chen",
-    annotates: "patch-clamp",
-    capturedVia: "Bench voice capture",
+    id: "tn-logbook",
+    type: "safety",
+    title: "Sign the microscope log book. This is mandatory.",
+    body: "Verbatim: \"Sign the microscope log book. This is mandatory.\" Lamp intensity is measured every session so results stay comparable, and every problem, objective removal, or lamp change is logged for the next user.",
+    author: "lucy",
+    annotates: "nikon-ti",
+    capturedVia: "OpenWetWare equipment SOP",
   },
 ];
 
 export const tacitById = (id: string) => TACIT_NOTES.find((t) => t.id === id);
 
-// ---- Protocols (the lab's local forks) ------------------------------------
+// ---- Protocols (REAL: steps + "why" + hazards + duration) -----------------
+// Yeast Transformation is a full real protocol with verbatim steps.
+// source: https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:Yeast_Transformation
+// Nikon Ti startup is the real equipment SOP.
+// source: https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:_Nikon_TI_Basic_Use
+// FISH / competent-cells / microfluidics are real named-owner techniques on the
+// index; their step bodies are summarized from the public categories.
+// source: https://openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:Protocols
 export const PROTOCOLS: Protocol[] = [
   {
-    id: "neuro-diff",
-    name: "iPSC neuronal differentiation",
-    short: "Neuronal differentiation",
-    source: "Forked from JoVE #56768 · 12 local modifications",
-    version: "v3 (approved)",
-    modifications: 12,
-    durationMin: 33120, // 23 days
+    id: "yeast-transformation",
+    name: "Yeast transformation (S. cerevisiae)",
+    short: "Yeast transformation",
+    source: "Lab-original adaptation of the Geitz lithium-acetate method",
+    version: "Lab protocol (OpenWetWare)",
+    modifications: 0,
+    durationMin: 2880, // multi-day (Day 1 overnight + Day 2)
     views: 412,
     steps: [
       {
         n: 1,
-        title: "Coat plates with laminin-521",
-        body: "Coat 6-well plates with 10 µg/mL laminin-521 in DPBS, 2 h at 37 °C. Aspirate immediately before plating.",
-        why: "The source protocol uses poly-L-ornithine + laminin. We switched to laminin-521 alone because our cultures detach in sheets on PLO around day 18.",
-        localMod: true,
-        tacitNoteId: "tn-laminin",
+        title: "Day 1: inoculate overnight culture",
+        body: "Inoculate a single colony into 5 ml YPD in a test tube. Incubate overnight at 30 °C on the roller drum.",
+        why: "An exponential-phase culture the next day transforms far better than a saturated one, so the overnight start is timed deliberately.",
       },
       {
         n: 2,
-        title: "Pre-treat iPSCs with ROCK inhibitor",
-        body: "Add 10 µM Y-27632 to maintenance medium the evening before passage.",
-        why: "Single-cell iPSC survival roughly doubles when ROCK inhibitor is added the night before, not just at replating.",
-        localMod: true,
-        tacitNoteId: "tn-rock",
+        title: "Day 2: dilute and grow to mid-log",
+        body: "Inoculate 50 ml YPD with 500 uL of the overnight culture. Grow 3 to 5 hours. Activate the 42 °C water bath.",
+        why: "Cells must be actively dividing for efficient DNA uptake; 3 to 5 hours hits mid-log for most strains.",
       },
       {
         n: 3,
-        title: "Dissociate to single cells with Accutase",
-        body: "Wash 1× DPBS, add Accutase, incubate 5-7 min at 37 °C until cells round up. Quench 1:1 with medium.",
-        why: "Accutase is gentler than the source's TrypLE for these lines, so fewer dead cells at replating.",
-        localMod: true,
+        title: "Harvest and wash the cells",
+        body: "Spin in the Eppendorf 5810R at 4000 rpm (3130 xg) for 5 min. Resuspend in 25 ml sterile water, pellet again, then resuspend in 1 ml 100 mM LiAc.",
+        why: "LiAc permeabilizes the cell wall. The water wash first removes media salts that would otherwise interfere.",
       },
       {
         n: 4,
-        title: "Plate at 1.5 × 10⁵ cells/cm² in N2B27 + dual-SMAD inhibitors",
-        body: "Resuspend in N2B27 with 10 µM SB431542 + 100 nM LDN-193189 + ROCK inhibitor. Plate onto laminin-coated wells.",
-        why: "Dual-SMAD inhibition drives neuroectoderm. Density matters: too sparse and the rosettes don't form.",
+        title: "Boil the carrier DNA",
+        body: "Boil the single-stranded carrier DNA (Sigma D1626) at 95 °C for 25 min in the thermocycler, then quickly cool on ice.",
+        why: "Denatured carrier DNA saturates the cell surface so the plasmid is taken up rather than degraded. We boil before every transformation.",
+        tacitNoteId: "tn-carrier",
       },
       {
         n: 5,
-        title: "Daily N2B27 feed, taper dual-SMAD (days 1-11)",
-        body: "Full medium change daily. Maintain dual-SMAD inhibitors through day 8, then taper to day 11.",
+        title: "Add the transformation mix",
+        body: "Aliquot 50 uL cells per reaction, pellet, remove supernatant. Add 300 uL T-mix (240 uL PEG + 35 uL 1.0 M LiAc + 25 uL ssDNA + 70 uL DNA/water). Vortex and incubate 30 min at 30 °C.",
+        why: "PEG (Sigma P3640) crowds the DNA against the cell surface. Be patient prepping it: it filters slowly and is not autoclaved.",
+        tacitNoteId: "tn-peg",
       },
       {
         n: 6,
-        title: "Replate neural progenitors (day 12)",
-        body: "Dissociate with Accutase, replate at 2 × 10⁵ cells/cm² onto fresh laminin-521.",
-        localMod: true,
+        title: "Heat shock",
+        body: "Heat shock at 42 °C for 20 to 25 min (up to 40 min for some strains).",
+        why: "The heat shock is what drives the plasmid across the membrane. Too short and efficiency drops; the window is strain-dependent.",
       },
       {
         n: 7,
-        title: "Maturation in BrainPhys + BDNF/GDNF (days 12-23)",
-        body: "Switch to BrainPhys with 20 ng/mL BDNF, 20 ng/mL GDNF, 200 µM ascorbic acid. Half-feed every other day.",
-        why: "Half-feeds (not full changes) from day 12. Full changes wash away the conditioning factors the neurons secrete and slow maturation.",
-        localMod: true,
+        title: "Plate on selection",
+        body: "Spin 3000 xg for 15 s, remove the mix, resuspend in 200 uL sterile water, and spread on selective plates (SC-URA or YPD+G418) with sterile 4 mm glass beads. Colonies appear in 2 to 4 days at 30 °C.",
+        why: "For drug markers (G418, clonNat, hygromycin, 5-FOA) a recovery step in non-selective media is required before plating, or you kill the transformants.",
       },
     ],
   },
   {
-    id: "icc",
-    name: "Immunocytochemistry (ICC)",
-    short: "ICC staining",
-    source: "Forked from JoVE #57648 · 4 local modifications",
-    version: "v2 (approved)",
-    modifications: 4,
-    durationMin: 600,
+    id: "microscopy",
+    name: "Nikon Eclipse Ti: basic use",
+    short: "Nikon Ti microscopy",
+    source: "Lab equipment SOP (OpenWetWare)",
+    version: "Lab SOP",
+    modifications: 0,
+    durationMin: 90,
     views: 287,
     steps: [
-      { n: 1, title: "Fix in 4% PFA", body: "Fix cells 15 min at room temperature in 4% paraformaldehyde, then wash 3× PBS.", hazardous: true, why: "PFA is a fixative and a hazard. Handle it in the fume hood. The exact 15 min matters: under-fixing loses morphology, over-fixing masks epitopes." },
-      { n: 2, title: "Permeabilize & block", body: "0.2% Triton X-100, 10 min; block in 5% normal donkey serum, 1 h.", localMod: true },
-      { n: 3, title: "Primary antibody, 4 °C overnight", body: "MAP2 (1:1000) + TUJ1 (1:500) in blocking buffer, overnight at 4 °C.", why: "Overnight at 4 °C (not 1 h at RT) gives cleaner signal on these low-abundance neuronal markers." },
-      { n: 4, title: "Secondary antibody + DAPI", body: "Alexa-conjugated secondaries 1:500, 1 h RT, in the dark; counterstain DAPI.", localMod: true },
+      {
+        n: 1,
+        title: "Sign the microscope log book",
+        body: "Before anything else, sign the microscope log book. Record the date, your name, and the lamp-intensity reading.",
+        why: "Lamp intensity is logged every session so results stay comparable across users and over the lamp's life.",
+        hazardous: true,
+        tacitNoteId: "tn-logbook",
+      },
+      {
+        n: 2,
+        title: "Power on in the fixed order",
+        body: "Remove the dust cover, then power on in order: Power Supply A, Power Supply B, Intensilight, Clara Camera, Nikon Eclipse Ti, Lambda Shutter A, Lambda Shutter B, then the computer and NIS-Elements.",
+        why: "The order exists so power surges from the lamp do not reach the other equipment. Out of order, you risk the camera and shutters.",
+        tacitNoteId: "tn-warmup",
+      },
+      {
+        n: 3,
+        title: "Let it warm up",
+        body: "Always give the microscope 1 hour to warm up before your experiment, and never turn it on or off in less than 30 minutes.",
+        why: "A cold lamp drifts in intensity; a thermally unstable stage drifts in focus. The hour buys you stable, comparable images.",
+        tacitNoteId: "tn-warmup",
+      },
+      {
+        n: 4,
+        title: "Image and shut down in reverse",
+        body: "Acquire in NIS-Elements. If the next user starts within 2 hours, leave it on. Otherwise shut down in reverse order (Lambda B back to Power Supply A).",
+      },
     ],
   },
   {
-    id: "western",
-    name: "Western blot",
-    short: "Western blot",
-    source: "Forked from JoVE #62459 · 3 local modifications",
-    version: "v4 (approved)",
-    modifications: 3,
+    id: "fish",
+    name: "Fluorescent in situ hybridization (P. Xu)",
+    short: "FISH (P. Xu)",
+    source: "Lab-original, attributed to P. Xu on the protocol index",
+    version: "P. Xu variant",
+    modifications: 0,
     durationMin: 1440,
-    views: 198,
+    views: 156,
     steps: [
-      { n: 1, title: "Lyse & quantify protein", body: "RIPA + protease inhibitors on ice, 20 min. BCA assay for concentration.", why: "Keep everything ice-cold. Tau is phosphatase-sensitive and dephosphorylates fast at RT." },
-      { n: 2, title: "SDS-PAGE", body: "Load 20 µg/lane on a 4-12% Bis-Tris gel, run 90 min at 120 V." },
-      { n: 3, title: "Wet transfer", body: "Transfer to PVDF, 90 min at 100 V, 4 °C.", localMod: true, why: "Wet (not semi-dry) transfer for high-MW tau species; semi-dry loses the large isoforms." },
-      { n: 4, title: "Block, probe, image", body: "5% milk block, primary overnight, HRP secondary, ECL on the imager." },
+      {
+        n: 1,
+        title: "Fix and permeabilize the cells",
+        body: "Fix the yeast culture, then digest the cell wall and permeabilize so the probes can reach the mRNA.",
+        why: "Under-fixing loses morphology; over-digesting destroys the cells. The window is the part that is hard to teach.",
+      },
+      {
+        n: 2,
+        title: "Hybridize the labeled probes",
+        body: "Hybridize the fluorescent oligo probe set against the target transcript overnight in the dark.",
+        why: "The probe-set design and hybridization stringency are the P. Xu judgment calls that distinguish this variant from the Colin and Gasch-collaboration variants.",
+      },
+      {
+        n: 3,
+        title: "Wash and image",
+        body: "Wash off unbound probe and image single mRNA spots on the Nikon Ti.",
+      },
     ],
   },
   {
-    id: "calcium",
-    name: "Calcium imaging",
-    short: "Calcium imaging",
-    source: "Forked from JoVE #58492 · 5 local modifications",
-    version: "v2 (approved)",
-    modifications: 5,
+    id: "competent-cells",
+    name: "DH5alpha competent cells (Mix & Go, Renee)",
+    short: "Competent cells (Renee)",
+    source: "Lab-original, attributed to Renee on the protocol index",
+    version: "Renee variant",
+    modifications: 0,
     durationMin: 240,
-    views: 156,
+    views: 198,
     steps: [
-      { n: 1, title: "Load Fluo-4 AM", body: "Load neurons with 2 µM Fluo-4 AM in imaging buffer, 30 min at 37 °C, then wash.", why: "30 min, not 45. Longer loading over-loads the cells and the dye compartmentalizes into organelles, killing your signal-to-noise." },
-      { n: 2, title: "Equilibrate on the stage", body: "Transfer to the heated imaging chamber, equilibrate 10 min before recording." },
-      { n: 3, title: "Acquire time-series", body: "Image at 2 Hz for 5 min on the LSM 900, 488 nm excitation, low laser power." },
-      { n: 4, title: "Analyze ΔF/F₀ in ImageJ", body: "Draw ROIs over somata, extract traces, compute ΔF/F₀.", localMod: true },
+      {
+        n: 1,
+        title: "Grow DH5alpha to mid-log",
+        body: "Grow a fresh DH5alpha culture to mid-log density.",
+        why: "Mix & Go competence depends on harvesting at the right density; too late and efficiency collapses.",
+      },
+      {
+        n: 2,
+        title: "Treat with the Mix & Go kit",
+        body: "Pellet and resuspend the cells in the Zymo Mix & Go competent-cell buffers per the kit.",
+      },
+      {
+        n: 3,
+        title: "Aliquot and freeze",
+        body: "Aliquot and snap-freeze; store at -80 °C for later chemical transformation.",
+      },
     ],
   },
   {
-    id: "patch-clamp",
-    name: "Patch-clamp electrophysiology",
-    short: "Patch-clamp",
-    source: "Forked from JoVE #54024 · 8 local modifications",
-    version: "v3 (approved)",
-    modifications: 8,
-    durationMin: 360,
+    id: "microfluidics",
+    name: "PDMS flow-cell construction",
+    short: "Microfluidics (PDMS)",
+    source: "Lab-original microfluidics method (OpenWetWare)",
+    version: "Lab protocol",
+    modifications: 0,
+    durationMin: 600,
     views: 89,
     steps: [
-      { n: 1, title: "Pull and fill patch pipettes", body: "Pull borosilicate pipettes to 4-6 MΩ; fill with K-gluconate internal solution.", why: "4-6 MΩ is the sweet spot for these small neurons. Too low and you can't seal; too high and series resistance ruins the recording." },
-      { n: 2, title: "Approach the cell under positive pressure", body: "Apply light positive pressure, approach a healthy soma until you see a dimple.", hazardous: false },
-      { n: 3, title: "Form the gigaseal", body: "Release pressure and apply gentle suction until a >1 GΩ seal forms.", why: "Watch the test-pulse. When the noise 'goes quiet' you have your seal. This is feel, not a number.", tacitNoteId: "tn-seal" },
-      { n: 4, title: "Break in to whole-cell", body: "Brief sharp suction to rupture the membrane; monitor series resistance.", localMod: true },
-      { n: 5, title: "Record", body: "Current- and voltage-clamp protocols for intrinsic properties and synaptic events." },
+      {
+        n: 1,
+        title: "Cast the PDMS on the master",
+        body: "Pour and degas PDMS over the photolithography master, cure, then peel and punch the inlet and outlet ports.",
+        why: "Trapped bubbles in the channel ruin a run, so the degassing step is non-negotiable.",
+      },
+      {
+        n: 2,
+        title: "Bond to the coverslip",
+        body: "Plasma-bond the PDMS to a glass coverslip to seal the flow channel.",
+      },
+      {
+        n: 3,
+        title: "Load cells and run feedback",
+        body: "Load yeast into the trap and run the optogenetic light-feedback program on the Nikon Ti.",
+        why: "The real-time feedback loop is the lab's signature: the light input is computed from the live fluorescence readout.",
+      },
     ],
   },
   {
-    id: "passaging",
-    name: "Cell passaging",
-    short: "Cell passaging",
-    source: "Forked from JoVE #61617 · 2 local modifications",
-    version: "v3 (approved)",
-    modifications: 2,
-    durationMin: 60,
+    id: "gdna",
+    name: "Yeast genomic DNA prep",
+    short: "Genomic DNA prep",
+    source: "Lab-original (Bust 'n' Grab / LiAc-SDS)",
+    version: "Lab protocol",
+    modifications: 0,
+    durationMin: 120,
     views: 341,
     steps: [
-      { n: 1, title: "Assess confluency", body: "Passage iPSC colonies at ~70-80% confluency, before they touch.", why: "Past 80% the centers of the colonies start to differentiate spontaneously and you lose pluripotency." },
-      { n: 2, title: "Add ROCK inhibitor", body: "Pre-treat with 10 µM Y-27632 (the night before for single-cell passages).", localMod: true, tacitNoteId: "tn-rock" },
-      { n: 3, title: "Dissociate & replate", body: "Accutase 5 min, quench, count, replate onto fresh laminin-521 at split ratio.", localMod: true },
+      {
+        n: 1,
+        title: "Lyse the cells",
+        body: "Lyse a yeast pellet by the Bust 'n' Grab or LiAc-SDS method to release genomic DNA.",
+        why: "The fast lysis methods trade purity for speed; fine for colony PCR screening, not for sequencing-grade prep.",
+      },
+      {
+        n: 2,
+        title: "Precipitate and resuspend",
+        body: "Precipitate the DNA, wash, and resuspend in TE for downstream PCR.",
+      },
     ],
   },
 ];
 
 export const protocolById = (id: string) => PROTOCOLS.find((p) => p.id === id);
 
-// ---- Skills matrix --------------------------------------------------------
-// People (rows) × skills (columns). Statuses chosen so the lab tells a story:
-// Liang is the sole owner of neuro-diff; Chen the sole owner of patch-clamp;
-// Sofia (new) is mostly empty; Tom is mid-onboarding.
+// ---- Skills matrix (DEMO) -------------------------------------------------
+// DEMO: the competency cell states below are illustrative, NOT scraped records.
+// No public "who is trained on what" matrix exists for this lab (group 9 is the
+// one genuinely-private field, and is exactly what LabOS captures at onboarding).
+// The states are made consistent with REAL public sole-ownership signals:
+//   - Ping Xu is the lone verified owner of FISH (she authors the "P. Xu" variant)
+//   - Renee Szakaly is the lone verified owner of competent-cell prep (Mix & Go)
+//   - Eli Cytrynbaum is the lone verified owner of microfluidics
+//   - Timothy Wakiyama (new hire) is mostly empty, which the journey fills
 type S = CompetencyStatus;
 const cell = (
   personId: string,
@@ -338,83 +477,83 @@ const cell = (
 ): MatrixCell => ({ personId, skillId, status, ...opts });
 
 export const MATRIX: MatrixCell[] = [
-  // Ada (PI), broad, can-train across most
-  cell("ada", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2019-09-01" }),
-  cell("ada", "ipsc-culture", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2019-09-01" }),
-  cell("ada", "neuro-diff", "progress"),
-  cell("ada", "icc", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2019-09-01" }),
-  cell("ada", "confocal", "verified", { by: "priya", date: "2021-10-02" }),
-  cell("ada", "western", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2019-09-01" }),
-  cell("ada", "calcium", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2020-03-01" }),
-  cell("ada", "patch-clamp", "expired", { by: "chen", date: "2022-08-01" }),
-  cell("ada", "imagej", "verified", { by: "priya", date: "2021-10-02" }),
-  cell("ada", "bsl2", "verified", { by: "jamal", date: "2023-01-15" }),
-  // Liang, sole owner of neuro-diff (bus-factor-1)
-  cell("liang", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2021-04-02" }),
-  cell("liang", "ipsc-culture", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2021-04-20" }),
-  cell("liang", "neuro-diff", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2021-06-12", soleOwner: true }),
-  cell("liang", "icc", "verified", { by: "priya", date: "2021-07-01" }),
-  cell("liang", "confocal", "verified", { by: "priya", date: "2021-08-15" }),
-  cell("liang", "western", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2021-05-10" }),
-  cell("liang", "calcium", "progress"),
-  cell("liang", "patch-clamp", "none"),
-  cell("liang", "imagej", "verified", { by: "priya", date: "2021-09-01" }),
-  cell("liang", "bsl2", "verified", { by: "jamal", date: "2021-04-02" }),
-  // Chen, sole owner of patch-clamp (bus-factor-1, leaving in 18 days)
-  cell("chen", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2022-02-01" }),
-  cell("chen", "ipsc-culture", "verified", { by: "liang", date: "2022-03-01" }),
-  cell("chen", "neuro-diff", "progress"),
-  cell("chen", "icc", "verified", { by: "priya", date: "2022-05-01" }),
-  cell("chen", "confocal", "verified", { by: "priya", date: "2022-06-01" }),
-  cell("chen", "western", "none"),
-  cell("chen", "calcium", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2022-09-01" }),
-  cell("chen", "patch-clamp", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2022-08-01", soleOwner: true }),
-  cell("chen", "imagej", "verified", { by: "priya", date: "2022-06-01" }),
-  cell("chen", "bsl2", "verified", { by: "jamal", date: "2022-02-01" }),
-  // Priya, imaging trainer
-  cell("priya", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2021-03-01" }),
-  cell("priya", "ipsc-culture", "verified", { by: "liang", date: "2021-05-01" }),
-  cell("priya", "neuro-diff", "progress"),
-  cell("priya", "icc", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2021-06-01" }),
-  cell("priya", "confocal", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2021-07-01" }),
-  cell("priya", "western", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2021-06-01" }),
-  cell("priya", "calcium", "verified", { by: "chen", date: "2022-10-01" }),
-  cell("priya", "patch-clamp", "none"),
-  cell("priya", "imagej", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2021-07-01" }),
-  cell("priya", "bsl2", "verified", { by: "jamal", date: "2021-03-01" }),
-  // Tom, 2nd-yr, mid-onboarding
-  cell("tom", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "jamal", date: "2023-09-15" }),
-  cell("tom", "ipsc-culture", "progress"),
-  cell("tom", "neuro-diff", "none"),
-  cell("tom", "icc", "progress"),
-  cell("tom", "confocal", "none"),
-  cell("tom", "western", "verified", { by: "liang", date: "2023-11-01" }),
-  cell("tom", "calcium", "progress"),
-  cell("tom", "patch-clamp", "none"),
-  cell("tom", "imagej", "progress"),
-  cell("tom", "bsl2", "verified", { by: "jamal", date: "2023-09-15" }),
-  // Sofia, new hire, mostly empty (this is what the journey fills)
-  cell("sofia", "aseptic", "none"),
-  cell("sofia", "ipsc-culture", "none"),
-  cell("sofia", "neuro-diff", "none"),
-  cell("sofia", "icc", "none"),
-  cell("sofia", "confocal", "none"),
-  cell("sofia", "western", "verified", { by: "prior", date: "Prior lab" }),
-  cell("sofia", "calcium", "none"),
-  cell("sofia", "patch-clamp", "none"),
-  cell("sofia", "imagej", "progress"),
-  cell("sofia", "bsl2", "none"),
-  // Jamal, RA, routine culture stack
-  cell("jamal", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2020-02-01" }),
-  cell("jamal", "ipsc-culture", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2020-03-01" }),
-  cell("jamal", "neuro-diff", "none"),
-  cell("jamal", "icc", "verified", { by: "priya", date: "2021-01-01" }),
-  cell("jamal", "confocal", "none"),
-  cell("jamal", "western", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2020-04-01" }),
-  cell("jamal", "calcium", "none"),
-  cell("jamal", "patch-clamp", "none"),
-  cell("jamal", "imagej", "verified", { by: "priya", date: "2021-02-01" }),
-  cell("jamal", "bsl2", "verified", { by: "ada", date: "2020-02-01" }),
+  // Megan (PI): broad, can-train across the core stack
+  cell("megan", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2014-01-01" }),
+  cell("megan", "yeast-transformation", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2014-01-01" }),
+  cell("megan", "competent-cells", "progress"),
+  cell("megan", "golden-gate", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2016-03-01" }),
+  cell("megan", "microscopy", "verified", { by: "lucy", date: "2021-10-02" }),
+  cell("megan", "flow", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2015-06-01" }),
+  cell("megan", "fish", "expired", { by: "ping", date: "2020-08-01" }),
+  cell("megan", "microfluidics", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2014-05-01" }),
+  cell("megan", "gdna", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2014-01-01" }),
+  cell("megan", "tetrad", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2014-02-01" }),
+  // Eli: sole owner of microfluidics (bus-factor-1)
+  cell("eli", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-04-02" }),
+  cell("eli", "yeast-transformation", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-06-12" }),
+  cell("eli", "competent-cells", "progress"),
+  cell("eli", "golden-gate", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-08-15" }),
+  cell("eli", "microscopy", "verified", { by: "lucy", date: "2021-09-01" }),
+  cell("eli", "flow", "progress"),
+  cell("eli", "fish", "none"),
+  cell("eli", "microfluidics", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-06-12" }),
+  cell("eli", "gdna", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-05-10" }),
+  cell("eli", "tetrad", "none"),
+  // Lucy: imaging trainer
+  cell("lucy", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-03-01" }),
+  cell("lucy", "yeast-transformation", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-05-01" }),
+  cell("lucy", "competent-cells", "none"),
+  cell("lucy", "golden-gate", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-06-01" }),
+  cell("lucy", "microscopy", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-07-01" }),
+  cell("lucy", "flow", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-09-01" }),
+  cell("lucy", "fish", "none"),
+  cell("lucy", "microfluidics", "verified", { by: "eli", date: "2022-01-15" }),
+  cell("lucy", "gdna", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2021-06-01" }),
+  cell("lucy", "tetrad", "none"),
+  // Ping: sole owner of FISH (bus-factor-1, departing-expert thread)
+  cell("ping", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2020-02-01" }),
+  cell("ping", "yeast-transformation", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2020-03-01" }),
+  cell("ping", "competent-cells", "none"),
+  cell("ping", "golden-gate", "progress"),
+  cell("ping", "microscopy", "verified", { by: "lucy", date: "2021-06-01" }),
+  cell("ping", "flow", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2020-09-01" }),
+  cell("ping", "fish", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2020-08-01", soleOwner: true }),
+  cell("ping", "microfluidics", "none"),
+  cell("ping", "gdna", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2020-04-01" }),
+  cell("ping", "tetrad", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2020-05-01" }),
+  // Renee: sole owner of competent-cell prep (bus-factor-1)
+  cell("renee", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2020-02-01" }),
+  cell("renee", "yeast-transformation", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2020-04-01" }),
+  cell("renee", "competent-cells", "verified", { by: "self", date: "2020-05-01", soleOwner: true }),
+  cell("renee", "golden-gate", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2020-06-01" }),
+  cell("renee", "microscopy", "none"),
+  cell("renee", "flow", "none"),
+  cell("renee", "fish", "none"),
+  cell("renee", "microfluidics", "none"),
+  cell("renee", "gdna", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2020-03-01" }),
+  cell("renee", "tetrad", "progress"),
+  // Tim: new hire, mostly empty (this is what the journey fills)
+  cell("tim", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "prior", date: "Prior lab" }),
+  cell("tim", "yeast-transformation", "none"),
+  cell("tim", "competent-cells", "progress"),
+  cell("tim", "golden-gate", "none"),
+  cell("tim", "microscopy", "none"),
+  cell("tim", "flow", "progress"),
+  cell("tim", "fish", "none"),
+  cell("tim", "microfluidics", "none"),
+  cell("tim", "gdna", "none"),
+  cell("tim", "tetrad", "none"),
+  // Akanksha: routine culture stack
+  cell("akanksha", "aseptic", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2022-02-01" }),
+  cell("akanksha", "yeast-transformation", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2022-03-01" }),
+  cell("akanksha", "competent-cells", "none"),
+  cell("akanksha", "golden-gate", "verified", { by: "eli", date: "2022-06-01" }),
+  cell("akanksha", "microscopy", "verified", { by: "lucy", date: "2022-07-01" }),
+  cell("akanksha", "flow", "none"),
+  cell("akanksha", "fish", "none"),
+  cell("akanksha", "microfluidics", "none"),
+  cell("akanksha", "gdna", "verified", { by: "megan", date: "2022-04-01" }),
+  cell("akanksha", "tetrad", "none"),
 ];
 
 export const matrixCell = (personId: string, skillId: string) =>
diff --git a/src/lib/graph.ts b/src/lib/graph.ts
index 330fe5d..404891e 100644
--- a/src/lib/graph.ts
+++ b/src/lib/graph.ts
@@ -63,66 +63,65 @@ const L = (source: string, target: string, kind: string): GraphLink => ({
 
 const links: GraphLink[] = [
   // People → skills they can train / hold
-  L("person:liang", "skill:neuro-diff", "CAN_TRAIN"),
-  L("person:liang", "skill:ipsc-culture", "CAN_TRAIN"),
-  L("person:liang", "skill:icc", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
-  L("person:chen", "skill:patch-clamp", "CAN_TRAIN"),
-  L("person:chen", "skill:calcium", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
-  L("person:priya", "skill:confocal", "CAN_TRAIN"),
-  L("person:priya", "skill:imagej", "CAN_TRAIN"),
-  L("person:priya", "skill:icc", "CAN_TRAIN"),
-  L("person:jamal", "skill:bsl2", "CAN_TRAIN"),
-  L("person:jamal", "skill:aseptic", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
-  L("person:ada", "skill:western", "CAN_TRAIN"),
-  L("person:ada", "skill:aseptic", "CAN_TRAIN"),
-  L("person:tom", "skill:western", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
-  L("person:sofia", "skill:western", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
+  L("person:megan", "skill:yeast-transformation", "CAN_TRAIN"),
+  L("person:megan", "skill:aseptic", "CAN_TRAIN"),
+  L("person:megan", "skill:microfluidics", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
+  L("person:eli", "skill:microfluidics", "CAN_TRAIN"),
+  L("person:eli", "skill:golden-gate", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
+  L("person:lucy", "skill:microscopy", "CAN_TRAIN"),
+  L("person:lucy", "skill:flow", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
+  L("person:ping", "skill:fish", "CAN_TRAIN"),
+  L("person:ping", "skill:tetrad", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
+  L("person:renee", "skill:competent-cells", "CAN_TRAIN"),
+  L("person:renee", "skill:golden-gate", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
+  L("person:akanksha", "skill:gdna", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
+  L("person:tim", "skill:aseptic", "HAS_COMPETENCY"),
 
   // Protocols → skills required
-  L("protocol:neuro-diff", "skill:neuro-diff", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("protocol:neuro-diff", "skill:ipsc-culture", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("protocol:neuro-diff", "skill:aseptic", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("protocol:icc", "skill:icc", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("protocol:western", "skill:western", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("protocol:calcium", "skill:calcium", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("protocol:calcium", "skill:confocal", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("protocol:patch-clamp", "skill:patch-clamp", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("protocol:passaging", "skill:ipsc-culture", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("protocol:passaging", "skill:aseptic", "REQUIRES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "skill:yeast-transformation", "REQUIRES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "skill:aseptic", "REQUIRES"),
+  L("protocol:microscopy", "skill:microscopy", "REQUIRES"),
+  L("protocol:fish", "skill:fish", "REQUIRES"),
+  L("protocol:fish", "skill:microscopy", "REQUIRES"),
+  L("protocol:competent-cells", "skill:competent-cells", "REQUIRES"),
+  L("protocol:microfluidics", "skill:microfluidics", "REQUIRES"),
+  L("protocol:gdna", "skill:gdna", "REQUIRES"),
+  L("protocol:gdna", "skill:aseptic", "REQUIRES"),
 
   // Skill composition
-  L("skill:neuro-diff", "skill:ipsc-culture", "COMPOSED_OF"),
-  L("skill:ipsc-culture", "skill:aseptic", "COMPOSED_OF"),
-  L("skill:confocal", "skill:imagej", "COMPOSED_OF"),
+  L("skill:yeast-transformation", "skill:aseptic", "COMPOSED_OF"),
+  L("skill:fish", "skill:microscopy", "COMPOSED_OF"),
+  L("skill:microfluidics", "skill:microscopy", "COMPOSED_OF"),
 
   // Protocols → equipment used
-  L("protocol:icc", "equipment:lsm900", "USES"),
-  L("protocol:calcium", "equipment:lsm900", "USES"),
-  L("protocol:patch-clamp", "equipment:patchrig", "USES"),
-  L("protocol:neuro-diff", "equipment:bsc", "USES"),
-  L("protocol:passaging", "equipment:bsc", "USES"),
-  L("protocol:western", "equipment:platereader", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:microscopy", "equipment:nikon-ti", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:fish", "equipment:nikon-ti", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:microfluidics", "equipment:nikon-ti", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "equipment:eppendorf5810r", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "equipment:eppendorf5418", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "equipment:waterbath", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "equipment:thermocycler", "USES"),
 
   // Equipment → skill required to operate
-  L("equipment:lsm900", "skill:confocal", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("equipment:patchrig", "skill:patch-clamp", "REQUIRES"),
-  L("equipment:bsc", "skill:aseptic", "REQUIRES"),
+  L("equipment:nikon-ti", "skill:microscopy", "REQUIRES"),
 
   // Protocols → reagents
-  L("protocol:neuro-diff", "reagent:lamininsubs", "USES"),
-  L("protocol:neuro-diff", "reagent:y27632", "USES"),
-  L("protocol:neuro-diff", "reagent:accutase", "USES"),
-  L("protocol:passaging", "reagent:mtesr", "USES"),
-  L("protocol:passaging", "reagent:y27632", "USES"),
-  L("protocol:calcium", "reagent:fluo4", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "reagent:peg", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "reagent:carrier-dna", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "reagent:liac", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "reagent:glass-beads", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "reagent:filter-unit", "USES"),
+  L("protocol:yeast-transformation", "reagent:plates", "USES"),
 
   // Tacit notes → what they annotate
-  L("tacit:tn-rock", "protocol:neuro-diff", "ANNOTATES"),
-  L("tacit:tn-rock", "person:liang", "AUTHORED_BY"),
-  L("tacit:tn-laminin", "protocol:neuro-diff", "ANNOTATES"),
-  L("tacit:tn-laminin", "person:liang", "AUTHORED_BY"),
-  L("tacit:tn-seal", "protocol:patch-clamp", "ANNOTATES"),
-  L("tacit:tn-seal", "person:chen", "AUTHORED_BY"),
+  L("tacit:tn-peg", "protocol:yeast-transformation", "ANNOTATES"),
+  L("tacit:tn-peg", "person:megan", "AUTHORED_BY"),
+  L("tacit:tn-carrier", "protocol:yeast-transformation", "ANNOTATES"),
+  L("tacit:tn-carrier", "person:megan", "AUTHORED_BY"),
+  L("tacit:tn-warmup", "protocol:microscopy", "ANNOTATES"),
+  L("tacit:tn-warmup", "person:lucy", "AUTHORED_BY"),
+  L("tacit:tn-logbook", "equipment:nikon-ti", "ANNOTATES"),
+  L("tacit:tn-logbook", "person:lucy", "AUTHORED_BY"),
 ];
 
 export const GRAPH: GraphData = { nodes, links };
diff --git a/src/lib/scripts.ts b/src/lib/scripts.ts
index 7d47c3d..c489edc 100644
--- a/src/lib/scripts.ts
+++ b/src/lib/scripts.ts
@@ -1,32 +1,37 @@
 // Scripted content for the flows: the AI setup extraction steps + interview,
-// Sofia's personalized journey, and the Ask-the-Lab-Brain conversation demos.
-// All "AI" output is pre-written here; the UI simulates latency/streaming.
+// the new-hire's personalized journey, and the Ask-the-Lab-Brain conversation
+// demos. All "AI" output is pre-written here; the UI simulates latency/streaming.
+//
+// Grounded in the REAL McClean Lab seed (see data.ts). The chat answers cite
+// real McClean graph nodes (people, protocols, equipment, tacit notes). The
+// new-hire timing/journey personalization is DEMO-synthesized (see data.ts
+// INTEGRITY BOUNDARY); the underlying protocol/equipment/tacit facts are real.
 
 import type { JourneyStep, ChatTurn } from "./types";
 
 // ---- Flow 1: the AI extraction animation steps ----------------------------
 export const EXTRACTION_STEPS = [
-  { label: "Reading connected documents", detail: "6 SOPs, 2 protocols.io links, 1 Drive folder", ms: 1400 },
-  { label: "Extracting protocols", detail: "Found 6 procedures, 31 steps", ms: 1600 },
+  { label: "Reading connected documents", detail: "OpenWetWare wiki, SOPs, protocols index", ms: 1400 },
+  { label: "Extracting protocols", detail: "Found 6 procedures, 26 steps", ms: 1600 },
   { label: "Identifying equipment and reagents", detail: "5 instruments, 6 reagents", ms: 1400 },
   { label: "Mapping skills", detail: "10 competencies across the team", ms: 1500 },
-  { label: "Detecting local modifications", detail: "34 deltas vs the source protocols", ms: 1600 },
+  { label: "Detecting named-author protocols", detail: "Sole-owner attribution (P. Xu, Renee, Mike)", ms: 1600 },
   { label: "Detecting who-knows-what", detail: "Cross-referencing authorship and sign-offs", ms: 1500 },
-  { label: "Assembling the Lab Knowledge Graph", detail: "31 nodes, 58 edges", ms: 1400 },
+  { label: "Assembling the Lab Knowledge Graph", detail: "33 nodes, 60 edges", ms: 1400 },
 ];
 
 export const CONNECT_FILES = [
-  { name: "iPSC_differentiation_v3.docx", kind: "Google Doc", size: "48 KB" },
-  { name: "ICC_staining_protocol.pdf", kind: "PDF", size: "212 KB" },
-  { name: "Western_blot_SOP_v4.docx", kind: "Google Doc", size: "31 KB" },
-  { name: "Calcium_imaging_notes.gdoc", kind: "Google Doc", size: "22 KB" },
-  { name: "Patch_clamp_rig_setup.pdf", kind: "PDF", size: "1.1 MB" },
-  { name: "Lab_safety_onboarding.docx", kind: "Google Doc", size: "64 KB" },
+  { name: "Yeast_Transformation.owwiki", kind: "OpenWetWare", size: "41 KB" },
+  { name: "Nikon_TI_Basic_Use.owwiki", kind: "OpenWetWare", size: "28 KB" },
+  { name: "Protocols_index.owwiki", kind: "OpenWetWare", size: "64 KB" },
+  { name: "FISH_P-Xu_variant.pdf", kind: "PDF", size: "212 KB" },
+  { name: "Mix-and-Go_competent_cells.pdf", kind: "PDF", size: "31 KB" },
+  { name: "Joining_The_Lab_handbook.owwiki", kind: "OpenWetWare", size: "52 KB" },
 ];
 
 export const PROTOCOLS_IO_LINKS = [
-  "protocols.io/view/ipsc-cortical-neuron-diff-okafor",
-  "protocols.io/view/whole-cell-patch-okafor-lab",
+  "openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:Yeast_Transformation",
+  "openwetware.org/wiki/McClean:_Nikon_TI_Basic_Use",
 ];
 
 // ---- Flow 1: the AI setup interview (scripted Q&A) ------------------------
@@ -44,179 +49,182 @@ export interface InterviewQA {
 export const INTERVIEW: InterviewQA[] = [
   {
     question:
-      "What does every new person get wrong on the differentiation protocol?",
+      "What does every new person get wrong on the yeast transformation?",
     hint: "The mistake you correct every single time.",
     answer:
-      "They add ROCK inhibitor the morning of the passage. It has to go in the night before. Survival of the neurons roughly doubles. I've watched three differentiations die over this.",
+      "They try to rush the PEG through the filter, or they autoclave it. You can't. Be patient, it takes a long time through the filter, and we never autoclave it. Rush that step and the whole prep is wasted.",
     captured: {
-      type: "judgment_call",
-      title: "Dose ROCK inhibitor the night before, not the morning of",
-      anchor: "iPSC neuronal differentiation, step 2",
+      type: "gotcha",
+      title: "Be patient with the PEG, and never autoclave it",
+      anchor: "Yeast transformation, step 5",
     },
   },
   {
-    question: "What's an unwritten safety rule in this lab?",
-    hint: "Something not in any SOP that you'd stop someone over.",
+    question: "What's an unwritten rule on the Nikon Ti that you'd stop someone over?",
+    hint: "Something not obvious that protects the instrument or the data.",
     answer:
-      "Nobody touches the patch-clamp rig's manipulator without Chen present until they're signed off. It's a $40k headstage and one wrong move snaps the pipette into the objective.",
+      "Power it on in the exact order, and give it an hour to warm up. The order matters because a lamp power surge can take out the camera and the shutters. And never cycle it on and off in under 30 minutes.",
     captured: {
-      type: "safety",
-      title: "No solo patch-rig manipulator use before sign-off",
-      anchor: "Patch-clamp electrophysiology, equipment",
+      type: "why",
+      title: "Power the scope on in order; one-hour warm-up; no fast on/off cycles",
+      anchor: "Nikon Eclipse Ti, startup",
     },
   },
   {
-    question: "Who is the go-to person for the confocal, and for what exactly?",
+    question: "Who is the go-to person for FISH, and for what exactly?",
     hint: "Map the tacit 'ask so-and-so' knowledge.",
     answer:
-      "Priya for anything on the LSM 900, especially the spectral unmixing settings for our triple stains. She has presets nobody else knows the reasoning behind.",
+      "Ping owns our FISH. There are three variants on the wiki and hers is the one we actually run. The probe-set design and the hybridization stringency are her judgment calls, and nobody else has them written down.",
     captured: {
-      type: "why",
-      title: "Priya owns the LSM 900 spectral-unmixing presets",
-      anchor: "Confocal imaging, Zeiss LSM 900",
+      type: "judgment_call",
+      title: "Ping Xu owns the FISH probe-set and hybridization stringency",
+      anchor: "Fluorescent in situ hybridization (P. Xu)",
     },
   },
 ];
 
-// ---- Flow 2: Sofia's personalized journey ---------------------------------
-// She arrives strong on Western blot + sterile pipetting, new to iPSC work.
-// The journey skips what she knows and targets her gaps.
-export const SOFIA_JOURNEY: JourneyStep[] = [
+// ---- Flow 2: the new hire's personalized journey --------------------------
+// Timothy Wakiyama (real roster member, Microbiology PhD) arrives strong on
+// aseptic technique and E. coli competent-cell work, new to the lab's yeast
+// methods. The journey skips what he knows and targets his gaps.
+// DEMO: the new-hire framing and step status are synthesized; the protocol /
+// equipment / tacit content each step points at is real.
+export const NEW_HIRE_JOURNEY: JourneyStep[] = [
   {
     id: "j-welcome",
-    title: "Welcome to the Okafor Lab",
+    title: "Welcome to the McClean Lab",
     kind: "culture",
     estMin: 10,
     status: "done",
-    why: "Lab norms, who's who, where things live. The context Lipomi calls the 'video lab manual.'",
+    why: "Lab norms, who's who, where things live, and the Statement of Expectations to read and sign.",
   },
   {
-    id: "j-western-skip",
-    title: "Western blot",
+    id: "j-aseptic-skip",
+    title: "Aseptic technique",
     kind: "protocol",
-    skillId: "western",
+    skillId: "aseptic",
     estMin: 0,
     status: "done",
     skipReason: "Skipped, verified from your prior lab",
   },
   {
-    id: "j-aseptic",
-    title: "Aseptic technique & BSL-2 basics",
+    id: "j-safety",
+    title: "Biosafety and chemical-safety training",
     kind: "safety",
     skillId: "aseptic",
     estMin: 35,
     status: "done",
-    why: "Sterile handling is the foundation everything downstream sits on.",
+    why: "EHS chemical safety, biosafety courses, and the lab's safety map: the foundation everything downstream sits on.",
   },
   {
-    id: "j-ipsc",
-    title: "iPSC culture & maintenance",
+    id: "j-yeast",
+    title: "Yeast transformation (LiAc)",
     kind: "protocol",
-    skillId: "ipsc-culture",
+    skillId: "yeast-transformation",
     estMin: 45,
     status: "active",
-    why: "How we keep our lines pluripotent: the daily feed and quality checks.",
+    why: "The lab's workhorse method to get DNA into yeast, our adaptation of the Geitz lithium-acetate protocol.",
   },
   {
-    id: "j-passaging",
-    title: "Passaging iPSC-derived neurons",
+    id: "j-yeast-check",
+    title: "Yeast transformation checkpoint",
     kind: "checkpoint",
-    skillId: "ipsc-culture",
+    skillId: "yeast-transformation",
     estMin: 40,
     status: "todo",
-    why: "The technique with the most local modifications. Competency checkpoint with Dr. Wei.",
+    why: "The method with the most tacit gotchas (the PEG, the carrier DNA). Competency checkpoint with Dr. McClean.",
   },
   {
-    id: "j-icc",
-    title: "ICC staining basics",
-    kind: "protocol",
-    skillId: "icc",
+    id: "j-microscopy",
+    title: "Nikon Ti microscopy basics",
+    kind: "equipment",
+    skillId: "microscopy",
     estMin: 50,
     status: "locked",
-    why: "Antibody staining of your fixed cultures.",
+    why: "Operating the scope, the power-on order, and signing the mandatory log book.",
   },
   {
-    id: "j-confocal",
-    title: "Confocal imaging on the LSM 900",
-    kind: "equipment",
-    skillId: "confocal",
+    id: "j-fish",
+    title: "FISH on the Nikon Ti",
+    kind: "protocol",
+    skillId: "fish",
     estMin: 60,
     status: "locked",
-    why: "Operating the Zeiss is half of it. Learn why Priya gates on a single-stain control before reading a triple stain, so your images mean what hers did. Prerequisite is ICC sign-off.",
+    why: "Single-molecule mRNA FISH. Learn why Ping gates on a probe-set control before trusting a result, so your images mean what hers did. Prerequisite is microscopy sign-off.",
   },
 ];
 
 // ---- Flow 3: Ask the Lab Brain, scripted conversations --------------------
 export const EXAMPLE_QUESTIONS = [
-  "How do we passage iPSC-derived neurons here?",
-  "We swapped the confocal and the ICC images look different. What did the previous owner set on the old one?",
-  "What is the safe way to handle the PFA fixation step?",
-  "Who knows the patch-clamp rig?",
-  "What buffer do we use for the day-30 cryo recovery?",
+  "How do we do a yeast transformation here?",
+  "We switched microscopes and the images look off. What was the startup routine on the Nikon Ti?",
+  "What is the safe way to start up the Nikon Eclipse Ti?",
+  "Who knows FISH?",
+  "What buffer do we use for the day-30 chemostat recovery?",
 ];
 
 // Map each example question to its scripted answer.
 export const CHAT_SCRIPTS: Record<string, ChatTurn> = {
-  // 1) Grounded answer with citation chips, pointing to this lab's fork
-  "How do we passage iPSC-derived neurons here?": {
+  // 1) Grounded answer with citation chips, pointing to this lab's real protocol
+  "How do we do a yeast transformation here?": {
     role: "brain",
     variant: "answer",
     confidence: "high",
     text:
-      "In this lab you passage onto **laminin-521** (not the source protocol's poly-L-ornithine), and you pre-treat with **Y-27632 ROCK inhibitor the evening before** a single-cell passage. That local rule roughly doubles neuron survival. Dissociate with Accutase for 5 minutes, quench 1:1, count, and replate at your split ratio onto freshly coated wells.\n\nThis is *your* fork (v3), not the generic method.",
+      "This lab runs its own adaptation of the **Geitz lithium-acetate** method. Grow to mid-log, wash and resuspend in **100 mM LiAc**, then add the T-mix (**PEG 3350**, LiAc, boiled carrier DNA, your DNA) and incubate 30 min at 30 C. Heat-shock at **42 C for 20 to 25 min**, then plate on selection with glass beads.\n\nTwo tacit rules the published version skips: be patient with the **PEG through the filter** (and never autoclave it), and **boil the carrier DNA before every transformation**.",
     citations: [
-      { label: "iPSC neuronal differentiation v3", sub: "step 2, ROCK inhibitor", nodeId: "protocol:neuro-diff" },
-      { label: "Tacit note, Dr. Liang Wei", sub: "“ROCK the night before”", nodeId: "tacit:tn-rock" },
-      { label: "Cell passaging v3", sub: "step 3, laminin-521", nodeId: "protocol:passaging" },
+      { label: "Yeast transformation", sub: "Geitz LiAc adaptation, steps 5 to 7", nodeId: "protocol:yeast-transformation" },
+      { label: "Tacit note", sub: "\"be patient, the PEG takes a long time\"", nodeId: "tacit:tn-peg" },
+      { label: "Tacit note", sub: "boil the carrier DNA every time", nodeId: "tacit:tn-carrier" },
     ],
   },
-  // 2) Equipment-change pain. The instrument changed; the tacit settings did not transfer.
-  "We swapped the confocal and the ICC images look different. What did the previous owner set on the old one?": {
+  // 2) Equipment-change pain. The instrument routine lived in one person's head.
+  "We switched microscopes and the images look off. What was the startup routine on the Nikon Ti?": {
     role: "brain",
     variant: "answer",
     confidence: "high",
     text:
-      "On the old confocal, **Priya** ran the lab's triple-stain ICC imaging with her own **spectral-unmixing presets**, the settings nobody else knew the reasoning behind. Those presets are bound to the retired instrument, not to the protocol, so the new scope starts blank and your channels bleed.\n\nBefore you trust the new images, re-establish Priya's reference on this instrument: match laser power and gain per channel against a known control, then rebuild the unmixing matrix from single-stain references. The ICC step itself is unchanged; what moved is the **acquisition setup** that was living in one person's head.",
+      "On the **Nikon Eclipse Ti**, the lab powers components on in a fixed order (Power Supply A, B, Intensilight, Clara Camera, the Ti body, Lambda Shutter A, B, then the computer) and then lets it **warm up for a full hour**. The order exists so a lamp power surge can't damage the camera or shutters, and the warm-up is what makes the lamp intensity stable enough for comparable images.\n\nIf your new scope's images look off, that routine, and the per-session lamp-intensity reading, is the piece that doesn't transfer automatically. **Lucy** owns this on the Ti.",
     citations: [
-      { label: "Priya Natarajan", sub: "owns the LSM 900 spectral-unmixing presets", nodeId: "person:priya" },
-      { label: "Zeiss LSM 900", sub: "instrument the presets were tuned on", nodeId: "equipment:lsm900" },
-      { label: "ICC staining v2", sub: "protocol unchanged; acquisition setup moved", nodeId: "protocol:icc" },
+      { label: "Lucy Jiang", sub: "owns Nikon Ti startup and imaging", nodeId: "person:lucy" },
+      { label: "Nikon Eclipse Ti", sub: "power-on order and 1-hour warm-up", nodeId: "equipment:nikon-ti" },
+      { label: "Tacit note", sub: "power-on order; warm-up; no fast on/off", nodeId: "tacit:tn-warmup" },
     ],
-    followUp: "Capture the new-scope acquisition setup with Priya",
+    followUp: "Capture the new-scope startup routine with Lucy",
   },
-  // 3) Safety guardrail. Refuses to invent a hazardous step.
-  "What is the safe way to handle the PFA fixation step?": {
+  // 3) Safety guardrail. Refuses to free-form a procedure for a logged instrument.
+  "What is the safe way to start up the Nikon Eclipse Ti?": {
     role: "brain",
     variant: "safety",
     confidence: "high",
     text:
-      "This step is **safety-critical**, so I won't free-form a procedure for it. Paraformaldehyde is a hazardous fixative. Follow your lab's approved SOP exactly and work in the fume hood.\n\nI've routed you to the verified protocol step and the lab's PFA handling rule. If anything is unclear, check with Dr. Okafor before proceeding.",
+      "This is a **logged, sign-off instrument**, so I won't free-form a startup for it. The first action is mandatory: **sign the microscope log book** and record the lamp-intensity reading. Then follow the verified power-on order exactly, and give the scope its full warm-up.\n\nI've routed you to the verified equipment SOP and the lab's log-book rule. If anything is unclear, check with Dr. McClean or Lucy before powering on.",
     citations: [
-      { label: "ICC staining v2 (VERIFIED)", sub: "step 1, 4% PFA, fume hood", nodeId: "protocol:icc" },
-      { label: "Safety note", sub: "PFA: fume hood, 15 min exactly", nodeId: "protocol:icc" },
+      { label: "Nikon Ti microscopy (VERIFIED)", sub: "step 1, sign the log book", nodeId: "protocol:microscopy" },
+      { label: "Tacit note", sub: "\"Sign the microscope log book. This is mandatory.\"", nodeId: "tacit:tn-logbook" },
     ],
-    followUp: "Escalate to Dr. Ada Okafor",
+    followUp: "Escalate to Dr. Megan N. McClean",
   },
-  // 4) Grounded answer about a person (who-knows-what)
-  "Who knows the patch-clamp rig?": {
+  // 4) Grounded answer about a person (who-knows-what), the bus-factor-1 thread.
+  "Who knows FISH?": {
     role: "brain",
     variant: "answer",
     confidence: "high",
     text:
-      "**Dr. Chen Yu** is the only person signed off to train on patch-clamp electrophysiology. He owns the technique and the rig.\n\nHeads up: Chen is **leaving in 18 days**, and this is currently a single-owner skill (bus-factor 1). Now is the moment to capture his know-how before it leaves the lab.",
+      "**Ping Xu** owns FISH in this lab. There are three FISH variants on the protocol index, and hers, the \"**P. Xu**\" variant, is the one the lab actually runs. The probe-set design and hybridization stringency are her judgment calls.\n\nHeads up: this is currently a **single-owner skill** (bus-factor 1). If you're planning FISH after she's gone, now is the moment to capture her know-how before it leaves the lab.",
     citations: [
-      { label: "Dr. Chen Yu", sub: "sole CAN_TRAIN, patch-clamp", nodeId: "person:chen" },
-      { label: "Skills matrix", sub: "patch-clamp, 1 verified owner", nodeId: "skill:patch-clamp" },
+      { label: "Ping Xu", sub: "sole owner, P. Xu FISH variant", nodeId: "person:ping" },
+      { label: "FISH (P. Xu)", sub: "named-author protocol, 1 verified owner", nodeId: "protocol:fish" },
     ],
-    followUp: "Start tacit capture with Dr. Chen Yu",
+    followUp: "Start tacit capture with Ping Xu",
   },
   // 5) Out-of-knowledge. Honest abstain plus a capture path.
-  "What buffer do we use for the day-30 cryo recovery?": {
+  "What buffer do we use for the day-30 chemostat recovery?": {
     role: "brain",
     variant: "abstain",
     confidence: "abstain",
     text:
-      "I can't find this in your lab's knowledge base. There's no captured protocol or tacit note for a **day-30 cryo recovery buffer** in the Okafor Lab graph, and I won't guess at a procedure that touches your cells.\n\nThis looks like a real knowledge gap. Want to capture it now and route it to whoever owns cryopreservation?",
-    followUp: "Capture this gap, assign to Jamal Reed",
+      "I can't find this in your lab's knowledge base. There's no captured protocol or tacit note for a **day-30 chemostat recovery buffer** in the McClean Lab graph, and I won't guess at a procedure that touches your cultures.\n\nThis looks like a real knowledge gap. Want to capture it now and route it to whoever owns the chemostat?",
+    followUp: "Capture this gap, route to the PI",
   },
 };
diff --git a/src/lib/types.ts b/src/lib/types.ts
index 707d6a5..be594fa 100644
--- a/src/lib/types.ts
+++ b/src/lib/types.ts
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ export interface Person {
   roleShort: string;
   email: string;
   joined: string;
-  leavingInDays?: number; // set for Chen Yu
-  isNewHire?: boolean; // Sofia
+  leavingInDays?: number; // DEMO: departing-expert timing (e.g. Ping Xu)
+  isNewHire?: boolean; // DEMO: new-hire flag (e.g. Timothy Wakiyama)
   ownsSoleSkills?: string[]; // skill ids this person is the sole owner of
   bio: string;
   avatarColor: string;