Spatial omics technologies have transformed biomedical research by offering detailed, spatially resolved molecular profiles that elucidate tissue structure and function at unprecedented levels. AI can potentially unlock the full power of spatial omics, facilitating the integration of complex datasets and discovery of novel biomedical insights.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Biophysical simulation enables segmentation and nervous system atlas mapping for image first spatial omics
npj Systems Biology and Applications Open Access 14 December 2025
-
Smart spatial omics (S2-omics) optimizes region of interest selection to capture molecular heterogeneity in diverse tissues
Nature Cell Biology Open Access 26 November 2025
-
Scaling up spatial transcriptomics for large-sized tissues: uncovering cellular-level tissue architecture beyond conventional platforms with iSCALE
Nature Methods Open Access 15 September 2025
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References
Chen, A. et al. Cell 185, 1777–1792.e1721 (2022).
Chen, K. H., Boettiger, A. N., Moffitt, J. R., Wang, S. & Zhuang, X. Science 348, aaa6090 (2015).
He, S. et al. Nat. Biotechnol. 40, 1794–1806 (2022).
Zhang, Q. et al. Nat. Commun. 14, 4050 (2023).
Haviv, D. et al. Nat. Biotechnol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-024-02193-4 (2024).
Zhang, D. et al. Nature 616, 113–122 (2023).
Liu, Y. et al. Nat. Biotechnol. 41, 1405–1409 (2023).
Vicari, M. et al. Nat. Biotechnol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-01937-y (2023).
Zhang, D. et al. Nat. Biotechnol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-02019-9 (2024).
Wang, L., Li, M. & Hwang, T. H. Cancer Discov. 14, 625–629 (2024).
Huang, Z., Bianchi, F., Yuksekgonul, M., Montine, T. J. & Zou, J. Nat. Med. 29, 2307–2316 (2023).
Lu, M. Y. et al. Nat. Med. 30, 863–874 (2024).
Yang, F. et al. Nat. Mach. Intell. 4, 852–866 (2022).
Cui, H. et al. Nat. Methods https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-024-02201-0 (2024).
Schaar, A. C. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.15.589472 (2024).
Acknowledgements
M.L. was partly supported by the following US National Institutes of Health grants: R01GM125301, R01HG013185, R01EY030192, R01HL150359, U19NS135582 and P01AG066597.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
K.C. wrote the manuscript with guidance from M.L. M.L. edited the original draft. A.S. created the figure with input from K.C. and M.L. All authors edited and gave final approval to the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing financial interests
M.L. receives research funding from Biogen Inc. M.L. is a co-founder of OmicPath AI LLC. The other authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Coleman, K., Schroeder, A. & Li, M. Unlocking the power of spatial omics with AI. Nat Methods 21, 1378–1381 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-024-02363-x
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-024-02363-x
This article is cited by
-
Challenges and potential applications of AI in systems biology
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (2026)
-
Biophysical simulation enables segmentation and nervous system atlas mapping for image first spatial omics
npj Systems Biology and Applications (2025)
-
High-parameter spatial multi-omics through histology-anchored integration
Nature Methods (2025)
-
Scaling up spatial transcriptomics for large-sized tissues: uncovering cellular-level tissue architecture beyond conventional platforms with iSCALE
Nature Methods (2025)
-
Smart spatial omics (S2-omics) optimizes region of interest selection to capture molecular heterogeneity in diverse tissues
Nature Cell Biology (2025)