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The emerging field of genetically targeted chemical assembly (GTCA) uses cell-specific genetic information to instruct chemical synthesis in situ. This Perspective discusses recent progress in GTCA and outlines opportunities for expanding the GTCA toolbox and diversifying applications.
Synthetic living materials are dynamic and responsive, actively interact with and integrate into biological systems, and predictably evolve. This Perspective discusses the engineering of synthetic living materials and their applications in cancer biology.