Fig. 1: Design of intercellular communication using M13 phage and CRISPR-based gene regulation.

Intercellular communication is achieved through the exchange of genetic material between sender and receiver cells mediated by M13 phage transfer. M13 phage particles contain a plasmid with a M13 packaging signal (phagemid) that encodes the DNA message, in this case a single guide RNA. This communication system allows for reusable components, ease in message diversification (i.e., exchanging sgRNA with another DNA message), efficient message transfer (>97% transfer within 4 h of co-culturing sender and receiver cells), and orthogonality between different sgRNA messages.