I didn't want to play until I got to Military science to test this. If there a console command to unlock all science I could test it myself.
I just tried to two new games.
One with enemy base select and peaceful mode selected. The tech tree still shows I need biomass to make the biter research data for military science and I need Military science to research biomass.
One without Military science selected, peaceful mode grayed out (this is the option I am hoping for. I don't want to spawn any biters) The tech tree still shows I need biomass to make the biter research data for military science and I need Military science to research biomass.
Did the recipe change and it's not showing in the tech tree?