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.
Keywords: CombiGEM; combinatorial assembly; combinatorial genetics en masse; functional genomics; high-throughput screening; multiplexed genetic perturbations; synthetic biology; systems biology.