About Malva¶
Malva is a genomic search platform that provides access to harmonized single-cell and spatial transcriptomics data. The platform enables researchers to search across thousands of samples for gene expression patterns, sequences, and biological signatures.
Key Features¶
Large-Scale Data
Access to over 7,000 single-cell samples across diverse tissues, conditions, and species — all queryable through a single API.
Real-time Search
Instantaneous results powered by a k-mer index. No reprocessing of raw data — just query and get answers.
Multiple Query Types
Gene symbols, natural language queries, DNA sequences, and batch search. From single genes to genome-scale probes.
Harmonized Metadata
Standardized metadata across studies for consistent cross-dataset analysis — cell types, organs, diseases, and more.
Use Cases¶
Gene expression analysis, biomarker discovery, and cell-type characterization across studies.
Circular RNA detection, splice-junction discovery, SNV screening, and fusion transcript identification.
Viral/bacterial transcript quantification and low-frequency sequence detection missed in individual studies.
Data Sources¶
Malva integrates data from:
Human Cell Atlas datasets
Published single-cell studies
Spatial transcriptomics experiments
Disease-focused research cohorts
All data is processed through standardized pipelines with consistent quality control and metadata annotation.
Indexing Your Own Data¶
For indexing and quantifying your own data locally, use Malva Tools (the malva command-line suite), not the Malva Client. Malva Tools provides local indexing, quantification, and analysis capabilities:
# Index a reference transcriptome
malva index --fasta transcriptome.fa --output my_index
# Quantify single-cell data against the index
malva quant --index my_index --reads sample_R2.fastq.gz --output counts.h5ad
Malva Tools documentation: malva.readthedocs.io
Malva Tools source code: github.com/malva-bio/malva
Contact¶
For questions or support, contact the Malva team at hello@malva.bio.
More information available at malva.bio.