title: Deciphering Combinatorial Genetics.
abstract: High-order interactions among components of interconnected genetic networks regulate complex functions in biological systems, but deciphering these interactions is challenging. New strategies are emerging to decode these combinatorial genetic interactions across a wide range of organisms. Here, we review advances in multiplexed and combinatorial genetic perturbation technologies and high-throughput profiling platforms that are enabling the systematic dissection of complex genetic networks. These rapidly evolving technologies are being harnessed to probe combinatorial gene functions in functional genomics studies and have the potential to advance our understanding of how genetic networks regulate sophisticated biological phenotypes, to generate novel therapeutic strategies, and to enable the engineering of complex artificial gene networks.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Alan S L
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Gigi C G
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Synthetic Biology Group, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Department of Biological Engineering and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139; email: tim@lugroup.org.
authors.forename: Timothy K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D015870:Gene Expression; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D034622:RNA Interference; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D049490:Systems Biology / Q000379:methods
keywords: CombiGEM; combinatorial assembly; combinatorial genetics en masse; functional genomics; high-throughput screening; multiplexed genetic perturbations; synthetic biology; systems biology