Docs
Everything in one place.
How to scan, how to read what you find, how earning works, and what the contracts can and cannot do.
What Poncell is
A swarm of browsers scanning real genomes for repeat arrays that sit beside reverse transcriptases. In September 2026 a campaign of 949 AI agent sessions at Anthropic found a new family of these, ART, in jumbo phages. Poncell reruns that search in the open. Every visitor's browser is one agent, running the same deterministic code, so any two agents must agree to the byte.
Nothing is simulated. Sequences come from NCBI, the scan runs on your machine, and the results you see are what that code finds in that DNA. The method covers the science in detail.
Your first scan
- Open the scanner and press Scan next genome.
- Your browser downloads a genome from NCBI, scans it in a background worker, and draws it as a ring. Arrays appear as amber marks.
- The result is fingerprinted and compared with the published one. Matched means you replicated it independently.
No wallet, account or sign-up is needed to scan. A wallet only matters for earning.
The scanner
| Scan next genome | A random genome from the catalog that this browser has not scanned yet. |
| Scan wave | A genome from the current wave, whose result is not published: this is how you earn. |
| Keep scanning | Runs one scan after another until you stop it. Wave genomes first, whenever a wave is published. |
| Any accession | Type any NCBI nucleotide accession, such as MW248466.1, to scan something outside the catalog. |
NCBI allows three requests a second from each address, and a scan takes two, so the scanner paces itself. A 300 kb phage takes one to three seconds; a 2 Mb giant virus a few more.
Reading results
Every array gets one label from where it sits. A label never says what an array does.
| ART-like | Long spacers, outside genes, upstream of a reverse transcriptase with no gene of 300 nt or more between. The rule from the ART preprint. |
| CRISPR-like | CRISPR-sized repeats and spacers, outside genes. |
| Intergenic array | Outside genes, with no RT beside it. |
| Coding repeat | Mostly inside a protein-coding gene. Usually a repeated protein motif, a look-alike. |
| RNA gene cluster | Overlaps tRNA or rRNA genes, a look-alike. |
Open any array for its copies and spacers base by base, the genes around it, and the evidence for the nearest RT. Arrays lists every call in the catalog, Genomes every genome.
Fingerprints
Each genome carries two SHA-256 fingerprints: one of the sequence as uppercase bases, and one of the result (the settings, the sequence fingerprint and every call with its label). The engine uses integers only, so the same DNA gives the same bytes on any machine. A different sequence fingerprint means NCBI served different DNA. A different result fingerprint on the same DNA is a divergence worth reporting.
Waves and points
Anyone could copy a published result, so published genomes earn XP but no points. Points come from waves: batches of 300 genomes from the 20,000 complete phage genomes in GenBank the catalog does not hold yet. A wave's list is public from the start, but its results are not. It stays open for 24 hours.
| For each wave genome you get right | Points |
|---|---|
| The scan itself | 10 |
| Each ART-like array in it | +40, up to two |
| Each CRISPR-like array in it | +15, up to three |
Each genome pays the first three wallets that claim it correctly.
Sealing
Wave scans wait in your browser until you seal them from Earn. Sealing sends one transaction on Robinhood Chain holding a single hash of all your waiting results, your wallet and a random secret. Nobody can read your results from it, and you cannot change them afterwards. Seal as often as you like while the wave is open. Nothing can be sealed after it closes.
Keep your backup. Claiming needs the secret and the list of results, and those live only in this browser. Download the backup after sealing, and restore it on another device if you need to.
Claiming
When a wave closes, the operator scans every genome in it with the same public engine and posts one Merkle root of the true results on chain, along with the per-genome results on this site. Your browser then builds a proof for each of your results, and the claim transaction opens your seal. Every result that matches earns its points; a wrong one earns nothing and costs nothing.
Redeeming
Points are recorded on chain against your wallet and cannot be transferred. Once $PONCELL launches, the operator sets the token (once, permanently) and a rate, and funds the reward contract. From then on you can redeem your unredeemed points for $PONCELL. Lifetime points stay on the leaderboard after you redeem. Until then, points accumulate.
Rules and trust
- The chain cannot run the scan. It checks your sealed results against the operator's attestation. You trust the operator to attest honestly, and anyone can check: the results are published, and any browser can rescan any genome and compare fingerprints.
- Copying is closed off. Seals hide results, and none can be made after a wave closes, when the true results appear.
- Guessing earns nothing. A result is a 256-bit fingerprint.
- Several wallets can share one scan. That is why each genome pays at most three wallets, so a wave's total payout is bounded however it is farmed.
- One wave at a time. A new wave opens only after the previous one closes.
- Level, XP, streaks and badges are kept in this browser. They are for you, not a record anyone else can check.
XP and levels
Every scan earns XP in this browser, wave or not.
| For | XP |
|---|---|
| Any scan | 10 |
| Matching the published result | +15 |
| A wave genome | +30 |
| An accession outside the catalog | +20 |
| Finding a divergence | +60 |
| Every 100 kb read | +5, up to 40 |
| Each ART-like array | +50, up to two |
| Each CRISPR-like array | +20, up to three |
Badges
Contracts
Both run on Robinhood Chain, have no admin powers beyond what is listed, and hold no funds except the reward vault once it is filled.
PoncellWaves
| openWave | Operator. Publishes a wave: the hash of its genome list and its closing time. |
| commit | Anyone, while a wave is open. Seals a hash of your results. |
| attest | Operator, after close. Posts the Merkle root of the true results. |
| claim | Anyone, after attestation. Opens a seal and pays points for every correct result, up to three wallets per genome. |
| setToken, setRate | Operator. The token can be set once, then never changed. |
| redeem | Anyone. Exchanges unredeemed points for the token, while the vault holds enough. |
PoncellLedger
A free public tally of replications: each wallet can report a genome's fingerprints once, and the ledger counts how many agree. An optional commit and reveal proves a result was found before anyone else published it. It pays nothing.
FAQ
Is my browser running an AI?
No. It runs a deterministic repeat finder, which is what makes results comparable byte for byte.
Does a match prove the array is real biology?
No. It proves the published result is what this code gives on this DNA. Function takes the bench.
What happens if I clear my browser data?
Your XP and badges reset, and unclaimed seals are lost unless you kept the backup. Points already claimed are on chain and stay yours.
Can I scan on my phone?
Yes. Genomes under a megabase scan quickly on a phone; giant viruses take longer.
Why does the page talk to NCBI directly?
So the sequence comes from the source of record rather than from us. Your browser checks it against the catalog's fingerprint.