diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 4afb414ff6f86ca0efb9d1c511d629bc666ffabd..2b70c668727907c03dd0ce1986317acd33e89ce1 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,77 @@
+# Use the official Anaconda base image
 FROM continuumio/anaconda3
 
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y libgl1
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+# Set environment variable to avoid user interaction during package installation
+ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+
+## Update package list and install necessary packages for X11, Qt, and basic utilities
+#RUN apt-get update && \
+#    apt-get install -y \
+#    x11-apps \
+#    xauth \
+#    libx11-dev \
+#    libxext6 \
+#    libxrender1 \
+#    libxrandr2 \
+#    libxfixes3 \
+#    libxi6 \
+#    libxkbcommon-x11-0 \
+#    libgl1-mesa-glx \
+#    libqt5widgets5 \
+#    libqt5gui5 \
+#    libqt5core5a \
+#    fonts-dejavu-core \
+#    pciutils \
+#    make \ 
+#    less \
+#    nano \
+#    && apt-get clean && \
+#    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+RUN apt-get update && \
+    apt-get install -y \
+    less \
+    nano \
+    && apt-get clean && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+RUN useradd -ms /bin/bash clarkad 
+
+# Set environment variables for X11 forwarding and Qt plugins
+#ENV DISPLAY=:0
+#ENV QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb
+#ENV QT_PLUGIN_PATH=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins
+
+RUN conda create -c conda-forge -n spyder-env spyder numpy scipy pandas matplotlib sympy cython
+
+# Ensure conda is initialized in every new shell
+#RUN echo "source /opt/conda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh" >> /opt/.bashrc
+#RUN echo "conda activate spyder-env" >> /opt/.bashrc
+
+##----------------------------------------------------------------------------##
+## Install parallel
+##----------------------------------------------------------------------------##
+
+#WORKDIR /opt
+#COPY ./parallel.tar.bz2 /opt
+#RUN tar -xjf parallel.tar.bz2
+#
+#WORKDIR /opt/parallel-20240322
+## build and install
+#RUN ./configure && make && make install
+#
+#WORKDIR /opt
+## verify version of parallel installed
+#RUN parallel --version | head -1
+## get past annoying parallel citation prompt
+#RUN echo 'will cite' | parallel --citation &> /dev/null || true
+
+#COPY ./cellxgene.txt /opt
+#RUN conda create -n cellxgene --file /opt/cellxgene.txt
+#RUN echo "conda activate cellxgene" >> /opt/.bashrc
+
+ADD cxg_env.yml /tmp/cxg_env.yml
+RUN conda env create -f /tmp/cxg_env.yml
+
+SHELL ["bash"]
+ENTRYPOINT [ "conda", "run", "--no-capture-output", "-n", "spyder-env", "spyder" ]
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