No longer will scientists have to cram complicated synthetic biology into a single cell. Last year, researchers engineered an entire colony of bacteria to periodically fluoresce in unison, and we can expect many more papers exploring the behaviour of collections of cells. The goal is to exploit this teamwork to give bacteria useful functions such as producing medicinal drugs.
Highlighted in: Nature looks at key findings and events that could emerge from the research world in 2011. Nature 6 January 2011