... programming Genomic engineering Human cell fate Reprogramming Synthetic biology Human Frontier Science Program http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100004412 LT000399/2020-L Cambridge Trust H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010665 101067501...

... of protein function with the precision of a pulse of laser light. This Primer gives an overview of the most commonly used optogenetic tools and their application in developmental biology. Embryonic development Optogenetics Signaling Synthetic biology Tissue morphogenesis Optogenetics...

... and the use of synthetic systems to test models. This highly dynamic, interdisciplinary mix of quantitative developmental genetics, bioengineering, synthetic biology and artificial life aimed to reveal how evolution exploits physical forces and genetics to implement the cell- and tissue-level decision-making...

..., is a challenge. One promising approach is to use synthetic biology techniques to engineer simple genetic or cellular systems that follow these principles and to see whether they perform as expected. As I review here, this approach has already been used to test ideas of patterning, differentiation...