Sculpta Demos "Bobcoding": Covalent RNA Barcoding Every ~300 Bases at >99% Accuracy

anshulkundaje · x · 2026-09-24

Sculpta released the first demonstration of bioorthogonal barcoding ("bobcoding"):

1) covalently attaching oligonucleotide barcodes to RNA at multiple internal positions via two-step chemistry, and 2) multiplexed reverse transcription to generate barcoded cDNA libraries with >99% barcoding accuracy.

Per the company, no one has previously performed either step, and no method has broken the multiplexing barrier before any enzymatic library-prep step — enabling simpler workflows and higher data quality. Instead of 0–1 barcodes, it adds one every 300 bases. Stanford professor Anshul Kundaje called it promising. Company-claimed demo; details pending peer review.

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