To fix this obstacle, a collective task led by the Stegle Group established SpatialData, a data requirement and software framework that allows scientists to represent information from a large range of spatial omics innovations in an unified manner.Technology Development for Spatial BiologyOver the last years, many technologies have been developed by both academia and industry for spatially envisioning tissues, cells, and subcellular compartments. And the list of such technologies, each supplying a little slice of the complete picture, keeps growing.Challenges of Spatial Omics TechnologiesThis heterogeneity of innovations is reflected on the computational side by an even higher heterogeneity of file formats: each innovation comes with its own storage format, and frequently information produced by the very same innovation can be stored in multiple formats.Practically, this brings numerous obstacles to the analysis of spatial omics data.” SpatialData merges and incorporates information from various omics technologies, bridging modern technologies with a framework that enables for computationally performant gain access to and manipulation of the information. “We developed the SpatialData structure to minimize the information representation difficulties when studying spatial biology, so that the researcher can focus on the biological analysis, rather than being slowed down by laborious information adjustments, otherwise required to even just visualize the data. The framework provides a unified representation and carries out ergonomic operations for hassle-free processing of spatial omics information,” said Marconato.The tool makes it possible for any scientist to import their data and carry out tasks like data representation, processing, and visualization.
And the list of such innovations, each offering a little piece of the complete photo, keeps growing.Challenges of Spatial Omics TechnologiesThis heterogeneity of technologies is shown on the computational side by an even greater heterogeneity of file formats: each innovation comes with its own storage format, and typically data generated by the very same innovation can be stored in multiple formats.Practically, this brings several obstacles to the analysis of spatial omics data. “We developed the SpatialData framework to ease the information representation challenges when studying spatial biology, so that the scientist can focus on the biological analysis, rather than being slowed down by laborious data manipulations, otherwise required to even simply picture the data. The structure provides a unified representation and carries out ergonomic operations for convenient processing of spatial omics data,” stated Marconato.The tool allows any researcher to import their data and carry out jobs like information representation, processing, and visualization.