High-content imaging is moving fast. In the last 18 months the CellInsight CX7 platform has appeared in CRO drug-discovery case studies, AI-driven target-discovery workflows and new RNA-imaging applications. This roundup gathers the most useful news and publications for UK scientists who want to know what the CX7 can do now — and where live-cell RNA imaging is heading next.
Quick take: The CX7 is firmly established as a plate-based phenotyping and screening engine. For live-cell RNA dynamics you still want an inverted live-cell system such as the EVOS M7000; for fixed RNA FISH or RNA/protein co-detection at scale, the CX7 LED Pro or LZR Pro is the natural fit.
CellInsight CX7 in Drug Discovery News
Several CROs, biotechs and platform companies have published work or case studies that feature the CellInsight CX7 LED Pro as their high-content screening engine.
o2h discovery — target-agnostic phenotypic drug discovery
o2h discovery runs a CellInsight CX7 LED Pro HCS platform for phenotypic screening across protein trafficking, cell cycle, apoptosis, autophagy and morphological profiling. Their article frames high-content imaging as a way to find drug targets without starting from a single predefined hypothesis, which is exactly the kind of target-agnostic approach AI-driven labs are adopting.
Read the o2h discovery article
Visikol — thick tissue and 3D model imaging
Thermo Fisher's Behind the Bench article explains how the biotechnology CRO Visikol uses high-content screening workflows to image 3D models, organoids and thick tissue sections. While the piece is platform-agnostic, it sits squarely in the CX7 ecosystem and highlights clearing reagents, 3D analysis and the push from 2D assays toward more physiologically relevant models.
Thermo Fisher / Visikol article
NEPHRIX Biosolutions
NEPHRIX has reported expanding its in vitro capabilities with a CellInsight CX7 for preclinical high-content imaging. This is another example of a specialist CRO adding CX7 capacity to support kidney and organ-model assays.
Concept Life Sciences
Concept Life Sciences has described using the CellInsight CX7 LZR Pro alongside cell-painting workflows for early drug-discovery projects, pairing high-content data with machine-learning analysis.
AI and High-Content Imaging: From Cell Painting to Self-Supervised Learning
The biggest shift in high-content imaging right now is not hardware — it is AI that can read morphology at scale without hand-picked features.
insitro POSH platform — pooled optical screening + deep learning
insitro's POSH (Pooled Optical Screening in Human cells) platform combines pooled CRISPR screening, high-content imaging and self-supervised deep learning to map gene function from cell morphology. The Nature Communications paper shows that biologically meaningful gene networks emerge straight from image-derived embeddings, capturing cellular relationships that conventional target-by-target assays miss.
insitro POSH announcement
AI for HCS image analysis
Technology Networks has covered how AI turns phenotypic image data into biological insight — from segmentation and feature extraction to predicting mechanism of action. The trend is toward foundation models trained on large cell-painting datasets that generalise across assays.
Technology Networks AI + HCS article
Agentic AI for microscopy
Recent work on agentic cell-painting systems shows AI agents autonomously planning experiments, choosing dyes, adjusting imaging parameters and interpreting results. These tools are still research-stage, but they point to a future where high-content microscopes spend less time idle between assay iterations.
Live-Cell RNA Imaging Breakthroughs
RNA imaging has moved beyond fixed FISH. In 2025 and 2026 several papers introduced new ways to watch RNA molecules move, localise and respond to stimuli inside living cells.
CRISPR–Csm single-molecule RNA imaging
A Nature Biotechnology study demonstrated single-molecule live-cell RNA imaging with CRISPR–Csm. The RNA-targeting Csm complex binds an engineered guide RNA and a fluorescent reporter, allowing individual RNA molecules to be tracked in real time without genetic fusion to the transcript.
DOI: 10.1038/s41587-024-02540-5
Targeted RNA-binding protein degradation improves mRNA live imaging
Nature Methods reported that degrading RNA-binding proteins can reduce background and sharpen live imaging of mRNA in animal cells. This is important because many live RNA imaging systems struggle with high background from unbound fluorescent proteins.
DOI: 10.1038/s41592-025-02869-y
Bright, stable fluorescent RNAs for long-term dynamics
A 2026 Nature Protocols paper provides a workflow for live-cell imaging of RNA dynamics using bright and stable fluorescent RNAs. These RNA aptamer/dye systems are brighter and more photostable than earlier generations, making longer time-lapse experiments possible.
DOI: 10.1038/s41596-026-01343-z
Programmable control of spatial transcriptomes
A 2025 Nature paper showed programmable control of spatial transcriptomes in live cells and neurons. The approach lets researchers manipulate where RNAs localise inside cells, opening a path from observation to functional experiments in RNA biology.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09020-z
FISH+ for RNA-protein proximity labelling
A Communications Biology paper introduced FISH+, a proximity-labelling method that visualises RNA while simultaneously identifying RNA-interacting proteins. This bridges imaging and proteomics in one workflow.
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-026-10509-0
What These Technologies Mean for Your Microscope Choice
The news above splits cleanly into two microscope categories.
| Application |
Best-fit platform |
Why |
| Fixed-cell RNA FISH / RNAscope / ViewRNA at scale |
CellInsight CX7 LED Pro or LZR Pro |
Automated multiwell imaging, multi-channel fluorescence, integrated high-content analysis, plate-scale throughput |
| Live-cell RNA dynamics with reporters |
EVOS M7000 + on-stage incubator |
Fast widefield imaging, environmental control, low phototoxicity, sensitive CMOS camera, time-lapse friendly |
| Single-molecule RNA tracking |
Spinning-disc or point-scanning confocal |
Higher photon budget and thinner optical section for resolving individual RNA spots over time |
| Cell-painting / AI phenotypic screening |
CellInsight CX7 + analysis software |
Consistent multi-parametric morphology data, integrates with cell-painting and ML pipelines |
UK practical note: Many labs run both workflows — fixed high-content screens on the CX7, and follow-up live validation on an EVOS M7000. The EVOS systems share LED/filter ergonomics and Celleste software with Thermo Fisher's HCS line, so moving images between the two is straightforward.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the CellInsight CX7 used for in drug discovery?
The CellInsight CX7 is a high-content screening platform that combines automated fluorescence microscopy with multi-parameter image analysis. CROs and biotechs use it for phenotypic drug discovery, target-agnostic profiling, cell painting, toxicity assays, 3D spheroid/organoid imaging and, increasingly, RNA/protein co-detection workflows.
Can the CellInsight CX7 image RNA in live or fixed cells?
The standard CX7 is optimised for fixed-cell fluorescence and high-content screening, including FISH, RNAscope and ViewRNA-style assays. Live-cell RNA imaging is still an emerging field; it typically requires fast, low-phototoxic widefield or spinning-disc systems such as the EVOS M7000 with environmental control, or dedicated high-speed confocals for single-molecule tracking.
What new AI technologies are being combined with high-content imaging?
Recent developments include insitro's POSH platform, which merges pooled CRISPR screening with high-content imaging and self-supervised deep learning, and agentic AI tools that plan and interpret cell-painting experiments autonomously. These approaches extract morphology-based gene networks and phenotypic signatures without predefined biomarkers.
What are the latest live-cell RNA imaging breakthroughs in 2025-2026?
Key papers include CRISPR-Csm single-molecule RNA tracking in living cells (Nature Biotechnology, 2024), targeted degradation of RNA-binding proteins to improve mRNA live imaging (Nature Methods, 2025), bright and stable fluorescent RNA aptamers for long-term dynamics (Nature Protocols, 2026), and programmable control of spatial transcriptomes in live cells and neurons (Nature, 2025).
How does high-content imaging help RNA research?
High-content imaging lets researchers localise RNA, quantify expression per cell, measure co-localisation with proteins or organelles, and profile thousands of cells in multiwell plates. When combined with FISH, ViewRNA Cell Plus or advanced aptamer/CRISPR reporters, it turns RNA abundance and distribution into scalable, image-based data.
Which Thermo Fisher microscope is best for live-cell RNA imaging in the UK?
For live-cell RNA dynamics, the EVOS M7000 with an on-stage incubator (temperature, CO2 and humidity control) and a sensitive CMOS camera is the most practical widefield option. For fixed, plate-based RNA FISH or high-content RNA/protein co-detection, the CellInsight CX7 LED Pro or LZR Pro HCS platform is better suited.