AGBT 2026: Key Trends Shaping the Future of Single-Cell Technology
Every year I look forward to the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) General Meeting as something like a “state of the union” for genomics technologies.
Not because every major launch happens there, but because the meeting usually reveals what the next 6–12 months will look like for the field. It also gives me plenty of topics to write ✍️ about.
This year, the signals around single-cell technologies were subtle but meaningful. Instead of dramatic launches, the focus shifted to:
🔬 scaling experiments
⚙️ improving workflows
🧠 enabling more complex biological questions
Below is a recap of the main updates I could gather from the meeting.
📅 Next Tuesday I’ll publish a second article focused on the spatial biology updates from AGBT 2026.
Industrial-scale Single-cell Workflows 🏭
Roche’s new sequencer: AXELIOS 1
One of the most talked-about launches at the meeting was Roche’s new sequencer, AXELIOS 1, built around SBX (sequencing by expansion).
Why does this matter for single-cell?
