Vibrational microscopy methods offer bond-selective imaging, revealing the rich chemical composition of biological samples. In this Focus issue, we celebrate the past, present and future of these technologies, with an emphasis on how they are poised to enhance discovery in the life sciences.

This Review introduces state-of-the-art vibrational microscopy for research in the life sciences and offers guidance for prospective users.

Raman microscopy enables label-free, high-resolution molecular imaging, treating the entire Raman spectrum as a phenotype for profiling cell heterogeneity. While challenges remain in speed, sensitivity and resolution, advancements in coherent Raman scattering, spatial multiplexing and Raman probe techniques continue to expand its potential for characterizing complex biological systems and fostering exploratory and data-driven biology.

Scientists who study biodiversity are in the rapid adoption phase of AI. They are finding that what AI can — and can’t — do is shifting rapidly.

This work presents SUM-seq, an ultra-high-throughput method for co-profiling chromatin accessibility and gene expression in single nuclei across multiplexed samples, advancing the study of gene regulation in diverse biological systems.

Proseg is a segmentation approach for single-cell spatially resolved transcriptomics data that uses unsupervised probabilistic modeling of the spatial distribution of transcripts to accurately segment cells without the need for multimodal staining.

A suite of bridged rhodamine dyes (BriDyes) offers excellent brightness, solubility, photostability, and tunable cell permeability along with resistance to photoblueing, making them exceptional all-purpose dyes for fluorescence biomaging.

ALI is an approach for analyzing voltage imaging data that is inspired by algorithms used in super-resolution microscopy. It allows resolving the activity of single neurons in densely labeled populations in scattering conditions.

Vclust generates fast and accurate estimation of average nucleotide identity for viral genomes, scaling clustering to millions of genomes.

A universal AI-powered pipeline for fast, precise and plug-and-play image analysis of diverse 3D cellular structures across multiple imaging resolutions.

Scientists face many pressures, plenty of which are about identity. Researchers draw strength from within and from allies.

Vibrational microscopy methods offer bond-selective imaging, revealing the rich chemical composition of biological samples. In this Focus issue, we celebrate the past, present and future of these technologies, with an emphasis on how they are poised to enhance discovery in the life sciences.