(Nature) – Gene-editing technologies enabled researchers to trace the cell-by-cell development of a single fertilized mouse egg to a late-stage embryo.

‘Cell recorders’ based on gene editing have captured mouse development in unprecedented detail.

Two independent teams of scientists published the findings on 8 October in Science and in Cell. One team recorded the cell-by-cell development of a two-week-old embryo from a single fertilized egg, and the other captured most of the cell divisions in embryos as organs formed.

Both studies were inspired by a landmark early-1980s effort: the first — and still only — full map of animal development. (Read More)