10x Genomics unveiled Atera, a new spatial instrument announced at AACR, positioning it as a whole-transcriptome spatial biology platform designed to reduce common trade-offs across existing spatial tools. The company framed the launch around measuring transcriptome signals in tissue context at scale. 10x says Atera provides higher throughput and plex versus Xenium, including four times throughput, six times targeted assay plex capacity, and stronger sensitivity for whole-transcriptome measurements. The system supports more than 18,000 genes on its whole-transcriptome assay, with stackable 1,000-gene panel options. Pricing was set at $495,000, with orders open and availability targeted for the second half of the year. The instrument’s described capacity includes running up to 800 1 cm² whole transcriptome samples per year and an imageable area exceeding 5 cm² per slide. Industry significance centers on research workflows for oncology and other tissue-based studies where whole-transcriptome readouts can drive biomarker discovery and hypothesis testing—especially as labs seek scalable platforms beyond targeted-only spatial panels.