1577-Malva: Reference-Free Sequence Discovery in Single-Cell

Paper Talk · Sep 15, 2026 · 27m

Malva is a groundbreaking computational platform designed to enable high-speed, reference-free sequence searches across massive single-cell and spatial transcriptomics datasets. While traditional methods rely on aligning data to known genetic references, this tool allows researchers to interrogate the raw sequence space to identify specific mutations, pathogens, and splice junctions that are often missed. The Malva Index currently encompasses over 70 million cells, transforming static gene count tables into a dynamic, searchable resource accessible via an API. By utilizing k-mer indexing, the…