10x Genomics announced the launch of Atera, a new in situ spatial biology platform designed to deliver whole-transcriptome analysis with single-cell sensitivity at unprecedented scale.
The Atera platform is engineered to enable researchers to measure gene expression, cellular states, and spatial organization within intact tissue simultaneously, providing a more comprehensive view of biological systems. The technology addresses long-standing limitations in spatial biology, where researchers have historically faced tradeoffs between scale, sensitivity, and gene selection.
Atera supports large-scale studies across both fresh-frozen and FFPE tissue samples, enabling applications in discovery research and translational medicine. By removing technical constraints, the platform aims to accelerate understanding of complex diseases and improve the development of new therapies.
The launch was unveiled at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2026, where early data from leading research institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania and the German Cancer Research Center, demonstrated the platform’s ability to uncover new insights into tumor biology and immune interactions.
Researchers using Atera have been able to identify rare immune cell populations, map tumor microenvironments with high precision, and challenge existing assumptions about cancer biology, including revealing previously undetected immune activity in certain tumor types.
10x Genomics said the platform builds on its existing spatial biology solutions and introduces a new cloud-based analysis system that enables users to store, visualize, and analyze large-scale datasets more efficiently. The company also launched Catalyst Research Services to expand access to the platform, allowing researchers to submit samples for analysis without requiring in-house infrastructure.
The platform has already attracted adoption from global research organizations and contract research providers, reflecting growing demand for high-throughput spatial analysis tools. Pre-orders for Atera are now open, with shipments expected to begin in the second half of 2026.
KEY QUOTES:
“At 10x, our mission is to accelerate the mastery of biology to advance human health. Biology is inherently complex, and as much progress as we have made, we still understand only a fraction of how it works. Progress in medicine depends on confronting that complexity directly, which requires measuring biology as it actually functions: systems of individual cells, expressing specific transcripts, in precise locations within tissue. Atera removes the trade-offs that have constrained research, unlocking a new era of insight that will transform our understanding of science and human health.”
Serge Saxonov, Chief Executive Officer And Co-Founder, 10x Genomics
“Spatial tools have always been important in understanding the tumor microenvironment. The samples we work with are rare, collected from glioblastoma patients treated with first-in-human bivalent CAR T cells, so it is critical to capture every layer of information possible. Using Atera has been extremely exciting for advancing our studies because its very high spatial resolution has allowed us to generate tumor microenvironment data from patients treated with CAR T cells, resolve rare immune cells, including T cells, in the post-treatment tumor microenvironment, and better understand tumor dynamics after treatment at a level that was not attainable in our prior lower-plex spatial work.”
Andrew Rech, Instructor Of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University Of Pennsylvania
“Whole-transcriptome spatial transcriptomics transforms tissues into living maps, enabling scientists to visualize complex cellular interactions in disease, uncover hidden mechanisms in clinical specimens and identify new therapeutic targets. Seeing this platform early made it clear that it represents a significant step forward for spatial biology. We expect Atera to fundamentally expand the scope of our translational research and accelerate target discovery in inflammatory and fibrotic diseases.”
Kevin Wei, Brigham And Women’s Hospital
