Spatial biology, which combines molecular biology and advanced imaging, enhances our understanding of tissue cellular organisation. Despite its potential, spatial omics encounters challenges related to data complexity, computational requirements and standardisation of analysis. In clinical applications, spatial omics has the potential to revolutionise biomarker discovery, disease stratification and personalised treatments. It can identify disease-specific cell patterns, and could help risk stratify patients for clinical trials and disease-appropriate therapies. Although there are challenges in adopting it in clinical practice, spatial omics has the potential to significantly enhance patient outcomes. In this paper, we discuss the recent evolution of spatial biology, and its potential for improving our tissue level understanding and treatment of disease, to help advance precision and effectiveness in healthcare interventions.
Keywords: image analysis; immunohistochemistry; multiplexed imaging; spatial biology; spatial transcriptomics.