Thank you! Yeah, I see how it can be expanded (adding more elements and more controls), but it will be an insane amount of unique creatures I will have to draw. I was already questioning my decisions with these 15 creatures I have :) But yeah, even focusing on one of the mechanics and making a game out of it might actually work.
If you're open to suggestions, I'd add more controls like you said for a more elaborate research/fine tuning experience. If you want to make sure this doesn't add a massive amount of work in the name of new unique creatures for the eventual new elements from failed experiments, you could add a catch-all element like "garbagium" or something which you get from all failed experiments.