Helix — Deterministic, auditable genome-editing simulation (CRISPR/Prime/PCR)
Helix is a deterministic, auditable genome editing simulator and reporting system for pre-clinical, in-silico CRISPR, Prime, and PCR workflows — a computational system of record for genome editing design decisions.
Helix does not claim biological truth. It guarantees computational reproducibility, explicit modeling boundaries, and verifiable decision artifacts (reports, manifests, schema-versioned evidence bundles).
Pre-clinical, in-silico simulation only. See docs/positioning.
Migration note (helix-governance → helix-governance)
Helix is now published on PyPI as helix-governance (Python module namespace and CLI entrypoints are unchanged).
python -m pip uninstall -y helix-governance
python -m pip install -U helix-governance

Choose your path
- Try Helix quickly → First Run or docs/getting-started
- Evaluate auditability/reproducibility → docs/audit_walkthrough and docs/scientific_contract_v1
- Run the Public Validation Pack v1 → docs/validation/README
- Verify release receipts (trust model + receipts) → docs/reference_validation_bundle
- Enterprise proof dossier (security, threat model, signing, receipts) → docs/enterprise_proof/index
- Teams v0 blueprint (artifact store + run registry + RBAC) → docs/teams_v0
- Use CRISPR/Prime decision modeling → docs/edit_dag_overview (limitations: docs/model_limitations/crispr_edit_dag_limitations)
- Integrate in CI/headless lanes → docs/cli_headless and docs/trust_kit
- Hack on internals → docs/contributing (tests:
tools/test.sh/tools/test.ps1)
First Run
Install, run a deterministic demo, and open the exported report:
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install "helix-governance"
helix demo run --demo-id crispr --outdir out/demo_crispr --zip
python -m http.server --directory out/demo_crispr/reports 8000
Prime demo:
helix demo run --demo-id prime --outdir out/demo_prime --zip
Governance licensing (principle: authority, not bits)
- Helix is free to install/run (simulate + explore).
- Decision-grade assertions and signed bundles require an offline license file.
- Verification is always free + offline:
helix verify <bundle_dir_or_zip>validates signatures and lineage, and never reads your local license.
Dynamic CRISPR simulation (resource-aware)
Copy/paste quickstart (Python API):
from helix.crispr.dynamic import CrisprDynamicSimConfig, simulate_crispr_dynamic
# Key mental model: `delivery` shapes Cas(t) (availability over time), not a static cut probability.
# `population.seed` makes the stochastic simulation reproducible.
cfg = CrisprDynamicSimConfig.from_yaml("""
time: {dt_h: 0.25, t_end_h: 48.0}
population: {n_cells: 2000, seed: 1}
delivery: {mode: RNP, params: {C0: 1.0}}
cas_kinetics: {k_deg: 0.35, k_dil: 0.0}
engagement: {k_eff: 0.55}
grnas: [{id: g1, abundance: 1.0, load_efficiency: 1.0}, {id: g2, abundance: 1.0, load_efficiency: 1.0}]
targets: [{id: t1, grna_id: g1, chr: chr1, pos: 1000, accessibility: 1.0}, {id: t2, grna_id: g2, chr: chr1, pos: 2000, accessibility: 1.0}]
ploidy: {loci: [{locus_id: t1, copies: 2, allele_accessibility: [1.0, 0.5]}, {locus_id: t2, copies: 2, allele_accessibility: [1.0, 1.0]}]}
measurement: {amplicons: [{id: amp1, chr: chr1, start: 900, end: 1100, locus_id: t1}]}
""")
result = simulate_crispr_dynamic(cfg)
print("edited_fraction(t1) =", result.edited_fraction("t1"))
print("edited_fraction(t2) =", result.edited_fraction("t2"))
print("amp1 truth =", result.measurement.amplicons[0].truth_counts)
print("amp1 observed =", result.measurement.amplicons[0].observed_counts)
Want the GUI? pip install "helix-governance[studio]" then run helix-studio.
Who this is for
- Genome editing researchers who need reproducible CRISPR/Prime outcome enumeration and comparisons
- Auditors/reviewers who need deterministic replays and verifiable artifacts
- Contributors building policies, verifiers, and visualization/reporting pipelines
Docs
- Docs & Playground: https://omniscoder.github.io/Helix/
- Studio strategy: docs/helix_studio_strategy
- Snapshot spec v1: docs/snapshot_spec_v1
- Full manual / product cookbook (legacy README): docs/product_manual