空间生物学是一个迅速发展的领域，让我们能够同时可视化蛋白质和转录组数据，并保持组织环境和结构的完整性。最初用于发现，越来越多的发展应用于转化和诊断性检测。目前在精准医学方面的应用包括通过更好地理解肿瘤微环境，能够将患者与最佳治疗方案进行匹配。然而，空间生物学还对许多其他学科（如免疫学、癌症、传染病和数字病理学）产生影响。随着越来越多的大规模数据集的产生，数据存储、整理、分析和共享需要更多的计算方法和基于人工智能的工具来充分利用空间工具。在这里，我们讨论空间生物学作为一种重要的交叉科学方法来应对健康等领域的复杂全球挑战。© 2023年澳大利亚和新西兰免疫学协会。

Spatial biology is a rapidly developing field which enables the visualization of protein and transcriptomic data while preserving tissue context and architecture. Initially used in discovery, there is growing promise for translational and diagnostic assay developments. Immediate applications are in precision medicine, such as being able to match patients to optimal therapies through better understanding the tumor microenvironment. However, it also has ramifications for many other disciplines (e.g. immunology, cancer, infectious disease and digital pathology). With increasingly massive data sets being generated, data storage, curation, analysis and sharing require more computational approaches and artificial intelligence-powered tools to fully utilize spatial tools. Here, we discuss spatial biology as an important convergent science approach to tackling complex global challenges in areas such as health.© 2023 the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology, Inc.