Researchers at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), in collaboration with São Paulo State University (Unesp) and the University of São Paulo (USP), have developed CellForgeR, a free online tool for analysing gene-expression data in individual cells without requiring programming knowledge.
Instead of relying on several coding steps and a high-performance computer, researchers open the platform in a browser, upload their own data or use public data available online, and choose parameters, cell types and genes through menus and buttons.
What single-cell sequencing is
The technique behind the tool is single-cell RNA sequencing (single-cell RNA-seq). While traditional sequencing analyses a tissue as a whole and returns an average, this approach identifies which genes are active in each individual cell.
According to Marcelo Mori, a professor at Unicamp's Institute of Biology, this level of detail changed how some cell types are understood. Macrophages, front-line immune cells once simplified into M1 and M2 categories, revealed a mosaic of cellular states. The same happened with adipocytes, previously described mainly as white, brown or beige.
How CellForgeR works
CellForgeR does not need to be installed. It runs on the Scientific Cluster of Unicamp's Institute of Biology, with processing handled in the university's data centre. The creators sum up the access gain simply: someone who can use a spreadsheet can now analyse single-cell data without writing a line of code.
One example given by the researchers is cancer research: it is possible to select macrophages from a tumour, investigate the expression of a specific gene and compare the result with other cell types. Questions that once required several programming steps can, according to the team, be answered in minutes.
Diogo de Moraes, a Unesp researcher and one of the platform's creators, notes that universities in the United States encourage software that eases this kind of analysis, while laboratories often depend on costly in-house tools or specialised programs. CellForgeR is presented as a way to lower both the technical and the financial barrier.
Beyond the tool
The project is also part of a broader training strategy: preparing researchers both in bench techniques and in handling single-cell sequencing data. The laboratories involved plan training for scientists from different fields who want to go deeper into the topic.
The tool was originally reported on 22 October 2026 and circulated again on 2 November 2026. It is worth separating the tool's purpose from a biomedical discovery: CellForgeR is presented as a way to expand analytical capacity and encourage reuse of public data, not as a biomedical finding in itself.
Image credit: illustration about single-cell RNA sequencing, ecSeq. The image is illustrative and is not a screenshot of CellForgeR.
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