Discovering what is possible: How synthetic biology illuminates development

Developmental biology seeks to understand how multicellular organization emerges from cell-cell interactions. Advances in stem cell and synthetic biology now enable researchers to rebuild developmental processes outside the embryo, with varying degrees of resemblance to natural systems. While some reconstituted systems reveal how development occurs, others uncover what is possible. This perspective examines how such bottom-up approaches have elucidated general principles and causal mechanisms of multicellular organization. We argue that synthetic systems, though simplified, provide powerful platforms to test the limits of developmental potential, disentangle causal relationships, and inform predictive models. With rapid advances in genomic engineering, imaging, and computational modeling, leveraging these engineered systems to discover what is possible holds transformative promise for understanding what is happening in nature.