enabling precise control over agronomically-relevant outputs such as flowering time, stress response, or the biosynthesis of added value metabolites.

sequential lineage tracing studies aimed at unraveling the relationships between cellular precursors and mature cell types

It is challenging to study how pneumococci control virulence factor expression, because cues of natural environments and the presence of an immune system are difficult to simulate in vitro

A technique common in rodents is the use of Cre recombinase lines that are inducible at specific developmental time points (Figure 3b). The most common form of inducible Cre is CreERT2, which contains a modified estrogen receptor binding domain that prevents Cre from entering the nucleus in the absence of a ligand

creating improved technologies for large-scale recordings of neural activity in the live brain is a crucial goal in neuroscience

new toolkits for chronic labeling of active ensembles will provide a much awaited experimental basis to interrogate various aspects of neuronal circuits underlying long-term plastic changes of the brain, such as during nervous system development, during establishment of long-lasting remote memory over months, or in association with age-related neuronal changes over several years.

new direction of functional labeling involves conversion of transient expression from activity-dependent promoters into a permanent labeling based on tamoxifen-dependent recombinases

This gene fusion approach will allow us to assay the induction of gene expression in as few as one cell

Now we can ask, ‘Have I seen iron at some threshold?’ ‘Have I seen some nitrate?’ And have every microbe write it down. As one thinks about long-term incubation, this is a really powerful tool, because even six months later we can pull out the DNA and see what happened.”

Researchers could use the method to study poorly-understood aspects of the sulfur cycle or bacterial methane production