Towards a Human Cell Atlas: Taking Notes from the Past

Rik G H Lindeboom; Aviv Regev; Sarah A Teichmann

doi:10.1016/j.tig.2021.03.007

Towards a Human Cell Atlas: Taking Notes from the Past

Trends Genet. 2021 Jul;37(7):625-630. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2021.03.007. Epub 2021 Apr 17.

Authors

Rik G H Lindeboom¹, Aviv Regev², Sarah A Teichmann³

Affiliations

¹ Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK. Electronic address: rl21@sanger.ac.uk.
² Klarman Cell Observatory, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Current Address: Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, USA.
³ Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK; Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

PMID: 33879355
DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2021.03.007

Abstract

Comprehensively characterizing the cellular composition and organization of tissues has been a long-term scientific challenge that has limited our ability to study fundamental and clinical aspects of human physiology. The Human Cell Atlas (HCA) is a global collaborative effort to create a reference map of all human cells as a basis for both understanding human health and diagnosing, monitoring, and treating disease. Many aspects of the HCA are analogous to the Human Genome Project (HGP), whose completion presents a major milestone in modern biology. To commemorate the HGP's 20-year anniversary of completion, we discuss the launch of the HCA in light of the HGP, and highlight recent progress by the HCA consortium.

Keywords: Human Cell Atlas; Human Genome Project; single cell.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Cell Lineage / genetics*
Cell Physiological Phenomena / genetics*
Cells / classification*
Genome, Human / genetics*
Human Genome Project
Humans