Science· 2026Q1
A DNA Typewriter records the cell lineage history of a mouse, from zygote to late organogenesis
- 1citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
A 'DNA Typewriter' molecular recorder captured the cell lineage history of a mouse embryo from zygote to late organogenesis, reconstructing a time-calibrated phylogeny of 1.28 million cells.
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Key points
- A DNA Typewriter molecular recorder was used to track mouse embryonic cell lineage from zygote to late organogenesis.
- A time-calibrated phylogeny of 1.28 million cells was reconstructed, rooted at the zygote.
- Distinct editing patterns identified the daughters of the first cleavage as inline replicates.
- Clonal dominance during gastrulation was quantified.
- Sibling cells showed a higher-than-chance tendency to share cell types, with heterotypic siblings indicating terminal differentiation.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Mammalian biology unfolds over time, within tissues and organs opaque to our eyes and instruments. We applied DNA Typewriter, a sequential molecular recorder, to record the cell lineage of a mouse over nearly two weeks of development. From one embryo, we reconstruct a time-calibrated, parsimony-supported, zygote-rooted phylogeny of 1.28 million transcriptionally profiled cells. A burst of editing unequivocally marks the daughters of the first cleavage, which serve as inline replicates. We quantify clonal dominance arising during gastrulation. Tree siblings share cell type far above chance; heterotypic siblings mark terminal differentiations. Temporal sweeps of clade co-occurrence recover a dated hierarchy of cell-type couplings; imputed labels for internal nodes recapitulate known state paths. A lineage-anchored ontogeny of mammalian development, long out of reach, is coming into view.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Science, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Molecular Biology
Molecular BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology