Abstract: An autonomous synthetic programmable device adapted to determine a cell state according to one or more different predefined markers, comprising a transcription machinery and a regulatory element for regulating said transcription machinery, said regulatory element comprising at least three different binding regions, each binding region binding a different transcription factor and each binding region corresponding to a different predefined marker, wherein the regulatory element permits said transcription machinery to provide a transcription output if and only if all three different transcription factors are absent and wherein each transcription factor is capable of blocking transcription by said transcription machinery and hence blocking said transcription output.