During the 9th Microbiome Movement Summit Europe, held recently in Barcelona (Spain) Microbiomepost sat down with Matthew Cheng, CEO of Kanvas Biosciences.

This interview introduces the company’s cutting-edge spatial biology platform, developed to provide deeper insights into host-microbiome interactions. Leveraging proprietary oligonucleotide probes targeting ribosomal RNA and messenger RNA, the platform enables precise visualization of both microbial identity and cellular function within tissue samples.

Each target is uniquely barcoded through a combination of up to 10 fluorescent molecules, creating over 1,000 possible spectral signatures per imaging round. Canvas’s strength lies in its advanced AI and machine learning algorithms, which can deconvolute these complex signals and accurately assign barcodes to specific targets. This technology opens new possibilities for high-resolution, multiplexed analysis of microbiome-host dynamics in situ, with broad implications for diagnostics, therapeutics, and microbiome research.