A lack of broadly applicable methods to precisely control therapeutic gene expression is a key challenge for gene therapies. We present a technology that offers a photoactivatable RNA base editor for tunable and reversible regulation of gene expression, with implications for improving the safety and efficacy of gene therapy.

Gene transfer enables bacteria to adapt to their environment. To sensitively detect gene transfer, we created a synthetic biology tool that introduces an identifiable barcode into RNA when microbes exchange DNA. When applied in a wastewater community, high-throughput sequencing revealed which microbes in the community participated in gene transfer.

We introduce volumetric DNA microscopy, a technique that enables three-dimensional imaging of tissue morphology and gene expression in a single measurement. This feat is achieved by forming a huge intermolecular network of DNA barcodes within an intact specimen and encoding their pairwise proximities into a DNA sequence library.

Technologies to modulate induced proximity at the cell surface advance the manipulation of diverse biological responses.