Multi-cellular organisms originate from a single cell, ultimately giving rise to mature organisms of heterogeneous cell type composition in complex structures. Recent work in the areas of stem cell biology and tissue engineering have laid major groundwork in the ability to convert certain types of cells into other types, but there has been limited progress in the ability to control the morphology of cellular masses as they grow. Contemporary approaches to this problem have included the use of artificial scaffolds, 3D bioprinting, and complex media formulations, however, there are no existing approaches to controlling this process purely through genetics and from a single-cell starting point. Here we describe a computer-aided design approach for designing recombinase-based genetic circuits for controlling the formation of multi-cellular masses into arbitrary shapes in human cells.

中文翻译：

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遗传设计自动化，可从单个细胞祖细胞自主形成多细胞形状

多细胞生物起源于单个细胞，最终形成复杂结构中具有异质细胞类型组成的成熟生物。干细胞生物学和组织工程领域的最新工作为将某些类型的细胞转化为其他类型的能力奠定了重要基础，但是随着细胞团的生长，其控制细胞形态的能力进展有限。解决该问题的现代方法包括使用人工支架，3D生物打印和复杂的介质配方，但是，目前还没有现有的方法可以完全通过遗传学和从单细胞起点来控制该过程。