The Human Cell Atlas.

Elife
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

The recent advent of methods for high-throughput single-cell molecular profiling has catalyzed a growing sense in the scientific community that the time is ripe to complete the 150-year-old effort to identify all cell types in the human body. The Human Cell Atlas Project is an international collaborative effort that aims to define all human cell types in terms of distinctive molecular profiles (such as gene expression profiles) and to connect this information with classical cellular descriptions (such as location and morphology). An open comprehensive reference map of the molecular state of cells in healthy human tissues would propel the systematic study of physiological states, developmental trajectories, regulatory circuitry and interactions of cells, and also provide a framework for understanding cellular dysregulation in human disease. Here we describe the idea, its potential utility, early proofs-of-concept, and some design considerations for the Human Cell Atlas, including a commitment to open data, code, and community.

Year of Publication
2017
Journal
Elife
Volume
6
Date Published
2017 12 05
ISSN
2050-084X
DOI
10.7554/eLife.27041
PubMed ID
29206104
PubMed Central ID
PMC5762154
Links
Grant list
MC_PC_15075 / MRC_ / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
MC_UU_12008/1 / MRC_ / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
R01 CA190400 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
G1100073 / MRC_ / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
U19 AI082630 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
MC_UU_00008/3 / MRC_ / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
MR/N024907/1 / MRC_ / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
U01 MH114812 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
P30 DK043351 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
MC_PC_12009 / MRC_ / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
RF1 MH114126 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
Additional Materials