Other uses for biology

[Hazard]

I'm not sure how well simulated alien biospheres are (IIRC it's just 'they exist and you can colonize them'), but biology tech could also handle hostile/incompatible biospheres, or the lack thereof.

I'd also like plagues and diseases just... being a thing that happens, and potentially impacting a world's population or economy while that's ongoing. I mean, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, spices, luxury foods, wine, furs and recreational drugs are all definitely things that humanity is producing or is capable of producing with organisms right now. Even plastics (wax strictly speaking fits the definition) and construction materials (wood).

A disease could impact any of these in a positive or negative manner, potentially disrupt society in general resulting in a decrease in production efficiency, and so on. Even better if it's something that ramps up and down as it plays out.

[nuclearslurpee]

I'd also like plagues and diseases just... being a thing that happens, and potentially impacting a world's population or economy while that's ongoing.

I can only speak for myself, but IMO this would be a very negative gameplay experience. I see the roleplay potential, but this essentially boils down to a purely RNG-driven screw-you with only negative effects. That kind of thing usually feels bad for a player, and the natural counterplay of, say, researching better medical tech to mitigate the effects would be in practice a resource sink to prevent possible negative effects instead of doing something positive that advances the player race, like most techs do. It sounds fun for specific roleplay ideas, but I don't see it being enjoyable as a game mechanic.