A paradigm for biology is emerging in which cells can be genetically programmed to write their histories into their own genomes. These records can subsequently be read, and the cellular histories reconstructed, which for each cell could include a record of its lineage relationships, extrinsic influences, internal states and physical locations, over time. DNA recording has the potential to transform the way that we study developmental and disease processes. Recent advances in genome engineering are driving the development of systems for DNA recording, and meanwhile single-cell and spatial omics technologies increasingly enable the recovery of the recorded information…
Building on a rich history, the nascent field of DNA-based recording offers a potential way of obtaining cellular histories that overcomes the limitations of current measurement paradigms. The basic premise of DNA-based recording is to engineer cells to record their histories into their genomes using DNA editors, such that a single destructive snapshot is informative with respect to not only each cell’s present but also its past…
