Why are Genomes needed when ordinary software has versions?
Ordinary version control preserves changes in source files. A Circuit Genome adds the complete structure of an executable assembly: its components, relationships, interface contracts, dependencies and reconstruction plan. A Farm Genome does something similar for an entire research laboratory. They are not replacements for Git; they are higher-level descriptions of how working systems are formed and evolved.
A recipe for reconstruction goes beyond a version label.
Ordinary source control can identify the changes to individual files. A Circuit Genome records the exact named capabilities in an executable arrangement, their compatible versions, interfaces, connection order, dependencies, test recipes and inherited rights. It can be used to rebuild the same qualified assembly. A new Genome revision that substitutes a component is a new candidate and does not automatically inherit every result of the previous assembly.
Farm Genomes apply the idea to an entire laboratory.
A Farm Genome describes the permitted tools, instruments, datasets, experiments, resources and governance that make a logical research environment reproducible. One Genome reproduces a working Circuit; the other reconstructs the laboratory capable of studying many Circuits. Both demand evidence that rebuilding produced the intended behavior, not merely that a configuration file was successfully copied.
The answer above preserves the original whitepaper text; this additional explanation is interpretive guidance, not a new claim of certification, legal authority or commercial launch.