Ultrafast and reference-free sequence discovery in single-cell data.

Malva enables ultrafast, reference-free sequence discovery across 74 million cells in single-cell datasets, transforming how cellular diversity is explored.

• Why it matters: Current methods cannot efficiently search raw sequences at scale or without references, limiting insights into RNA diversity, splicing, and modifications crucial for understanding cellular processes.
• What they did: Malva is a computational platform that rapidly interrogates raw sequence data, allowing searches for any sequence, mutation, splice junction, or pathogen across vast single-cell datasets without relying on references.
• The result: This approach empowers researchers to identify cell types and similarities directly from sequences, connecting to neural networks and automating complex analyses, thus transforming static gene counts into dynamic, sequence-resolved biological resources.