The development of multicellular organisms has been studied for centuries, yet many critical events and mechanisms of regulation remain challenging to observe directly. Early research focused on detailed observational and comparative studies. Molecular biology has generated insights into regulatory mechanisms, but only for a limited number of species. Now, synthetic biology is bringing these two approaches together, and by adding the possibility of sculpting novel morphologies, opening another path to understanding biology. Here, we review a variety of recently invented techniques that use CRISPR/Cas9 and phage integrases to trace the differentiation of cells over various timescales, as well as to decode the molecular states of cells in high spatiotemporal resolution. Most of these tools have been implemented in animals. The time is ripe for plant biologists to adopt and expand these approaches. Here, we describe how these tools could be used to monitor development in diverse plant species, as well as how they could guide efforts to recode programs of interest.

中文翻译：

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解码和重新编码植物发育


多细胞生物的发育已经被研究了几个世纪，但许多关键事件和调节机制仍然难以直接观察。早期研究侧重于详细的观察和比较研究。分子生物学已经深入了解了调控机制，但仅限于有限数量的物种。现在，合成生物学正在将这两种方法结合在一起，并通过增加塑造新形态的可能性，开辟了理解生物学的另一条途径。在这里，我们回顾了各种最近发明的技术，这些技术使用 CRISPR/Cas9 和噬菌体整合酶来追踪细胞在不同时间尺度上的分化，并以高时空分辨率解码细胞的分子状态。这些工具大部分已在动物身上得到应用。植物生物学家采用和扩展这些方法的时机已经成熟。在这里，我们描述了如何使用这些工具来监测不同植物物种的发育，以及它们如何指导重新编码感兴趣的程序。