848-GASTON: Mapping Tissue Topography

Paper Talk · Apr 24, 2026 · 23m

This article introduces GASTON, an unsupervised deep learning algorithm designed to analyze complex spatial transcriptomics data. By calculating a metric called isodepth, the tool creates a topographic map of tissue slices that functions similarly to elevation on a geographical map. This innovative approach allows researchers to identify spatial domains while simultaneously modeling both smooth gene expression gradients and abrupt changes in cellular composition. The researchers demonstrate that GASTON outperforms existing computational methods in maintaining spatial coherence, particularly…