Thank you very much for the kind words and in-depth comments! Indeed, because of lack of time the balancing & tutorialization of the game took a hit; we hope to polish both post-jam, as well as improve the feedbacks.
Regarding the Science, at the beginning of the game you can only build very close to the snake's maw; once you've gotten keratin by building a mine and supplying it with workers from a nearby dwelling, you can construct a lab (the tower with a light on top), which gives you 1 point of Science while it's standing. For each point of Science, you can build further down the snake :) But we agree this is the hardest point to currently understand. Thank you very much for playing!