The international research cooperation consortium maps every cell type in the human body, from development through adulthood and ultimately old age. The goal of the Human Cell Atlas project is to change the understanding of health and disease in order to advance medicine and healthcare.“Cells are the building blocks of the human body, but we still do not know all the types of cells that make up the human anatomy. We need maps to understand how the human body works and what is wrong with the disease”, says the project team.
The creators of the Human Cell Atlas say the project is more ambitious than the Human Genome Project, which aimed to sequence 3.1 billion bases of DNA between 1990 and 2003.
The creators of the Human Cell Atlas claim that the project is more ambitious than the Human Genome Project (Photo: Jezperklauzen/iStock). To date, the consortium has analyzed tens of millions of cells from almost ten thousand individuals and produced more than 190 scientific publications. Although the main focus is a healthy body, the project has already brought new insights into cancer, Covid-19, cystic fibrosis, intestinal, heart and lung diseases.
Research has advanced the modeling of diseases using mini-organs, as well as the medical diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases and cancer. Understanding the developing immune system has also provided important information for the design of therapeutic T cells.
Researchers are also addressing low-income diseases like tuberculosis in low- and middle-income settings to ensure equitable health care around the world.
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Biobots: a new frontier between life, death and medicine Protein 'necklace' can kill cancer cells; understand Researchers create animal cells capable of photosynthesis How is a map made? Researchers use computing and artificial intelligence (AI) methods to apply spatial genomics concepts. Thus, it is possible to locate and define the molecular properties of 37.2 trillion cells.
Scientists use computing and artificial intelligence methods to apply spatial genomics concepts (Photo: Motortion/iStock). They plan to reveal which of the 20,000 genes in a single cell are activated and create a unique “identification card” for each of them. This allows researchers to discover new cell types and functions.
"Using other rapidly developing spatial analysis methods, HCA researchers are mapping these individual cells to precise locations and understanding their functions and relationships with their neighbors."
The initial goal is to create a comprehensive and globally representative human cell atlas, containing ten billion cells from all organs and tissues.