Blog
Jan 22, 2021

Best of 2020: Celebrating your science

Liz Lucero

From COVID-19 to cardiogenesis, we’re highlighting some of our favorite articles from last year. Rediscover our top blog posts of 2020.

2020 was a challenging year for many, bringing changes to the way we all live and work, but at least one thing stayed the same: here on the 10x Blog, we were as busy as ever. With topics ranging from COVID-19 to neurodegenerative diseases, we worked to give you a peek into the leading-edge of biology and some of the exciting advances being made. We also went behind the scenes, digging into the technology behind new discoveries and talking to experts in specific processes, such as sample prep and data analysis. Now, with 2020 in the rearview, we’re looking back on some of our favorite blog posts from last year.

Understanding COVID-19

Of course, one of the major topics on the blog in 2020 was COVID-19. We were especially interested in the methods researchers are using to study the disease.

Answering Your Questions about Single Cell Applications for SARS-CoV-2 Research

Our most popular post on the subject took a look at single cell applications for virology and, in particular, how single cell technologies can help researchers study the underlying immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We also highlighted an early study of COVID-19 that used single cell RNA-sequencing to detect viral RNA in infected cells.

From pulmonary fibrosis to COVID-19: how single cell atlases are advancing our understanding of lung disease

We got a different perspective on COVID-19 with Dr. Naftali Kaminski, an expert in lung diseases. Though his primary focus is pulmonary fibrosis, last year he joined forces with a group of researchers from around the world to build the COVID-19 Cell Atlas Data Mining Site. We talked to him about this new cell atlas and how it is contributing to our understanding of COVID immunopathology.

Location is everything: Spotlighting Visium Spatial Gene Expression

Recently named Method of the Year 2020 by Nature Methods, spatially resolved transcriptomics had a big year. On the blog, we highlighted the versatility of spatial transcriptomics, discussing the technology from several different angles.

Answering Your Questions About the Visium Spatial Gene Expression Solution

We started the year with a primer on our Visium Spatial Gene Expression technology to help you get started with spatial transcriptomics. Members of our R&D and Software Teams answered some common questions about Visium, covering topics such as tissue preparation and data analysis. Since then, we’ve continued to build on the technology, enabling immunofluorescence protein co-detection and, soon, FFPE tissue analysis.

Growing a Heart

On February 14 last year, we took a cue from a certain holiday and wrote about the heart, but not in the way you might expect. Highlighting a recent study that used spatial transcriptomics to map individual cells and their gene expression patterns at three different time points during cardiogenesis, we focused on the biological heart instead of the metaphorical one.

Layer by layer: Mapping the prefrontal cortex with whole transcriptome spatial gene expression

Spatial gene expression allows you to explore relationships between cellular function, phenotype, and location, making it a crucial tool in the study of structurally complex tissues. Naturally, it’s a good fit for analyzing brain tissue, where laminar position can impact gene expression, function, and more. In this post, we highlighted a group of researchers from the Lieber Institute for Brain Development who used spatial transcriptomics to study the prefrontal cortex.

Behind the scenes: A closer look at multiomic methodology

Multiomics has emerged as a crucial method in the study of fundamental biological functions, and we want to make sure you have the knowledge you need to get the most out of your research projects. Last year, we talked to some experts in multiomic analysis to get a deeper perspective on two key aspects of the workflow: sample prep and data analysis.

Answering Your Questions about Sample Prep Optimization for Single Cell Multiomics

As part of our comprehensive single cell multiomics webinar series, 10x-perts Sharmila Chaterjee, PhD, and Zuleyma Peralta, PhD took a deep dive into the world of sample preparation for single cell multiomics. In the post, we highlighted some questions from the live Q&A, focusing on sample prep optimization and how to overcome any challenges you face during the process.

The case of the missing T cells: why integrated multimodal data holds the key

Dr. Rahul Satija, head of the Satija Lab and Core Faculty Member at the New York Genome Center, is an expert in single cell analysis. We found out why a one dimensional view of biology is just the beginning and how multiomic single cell analysis can help uncover new insights as Satija explained his statistical method for integrating multimodal data types.

New insights into disease: Highlighting recent publications

For us, there’s nothing more exciting than seeing how researchers are using our technologies. Last year, we got to share some of this on the blog, highlighting a few recent publications in which researchers used 10x Genomics solutions to make new discoveries about widespread diseases, such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Single cell analysis reveals new possible therapy strategies for aggressive and treatment-resistant breast cancers

In October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we focused on publications involving advances in targeted breast cancer therapy research and how single cell RNA-sequencing plays a crucial role in understanding and improving treatment outcomes, as well as identifying possible therapeutic targets.

Single cell techniques enable progress in making islet transplantation a reality for more people with diabetes

In November, in honor of National Diabetes Awareness Month, we highlighted a promising development in treatment options for patients with type 1 diabetes, discussing new stem cell studies from the Salk Institute that may aid in pancreatic islet transplantation.

Paving new roads in the quest for novel Alzheimer’s Disease drug targets

We also took a look at neurodegenerative disease, featuring new research in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its progression. We looked at two exciting recent publications that used single cell RNA-sequencing to explore non-neuronal cell populations, the roles they play in AD onset and progression, and their potential as future therapeutic targets.

Even with all the difficulties, 2020 was full of scientific advances and discoveries, and 2021 promises to bring many more. We’ve already got some great ideas lined up for the blog that we can’t wait to share with you this year, and we’re looking forward to seeing (and covering) your new research!