There are around 37 trillion cells in the human body, a number that can vary depending on individual factors such as age or health. Our cells are organized into different types: blood, muscle, bone, nerve…, and knowing their functions and interactions is key to diagnosing and treating diseases. Now, an international consortium called the Human Cell Atlas (HCA) has taken an important step by making important advances in the task of mapping the cells of the human body.
More than 3,600 scientists from 102 countries participate in the consortium and their goal is to better understand how these key units of life function in health and disease, and they have just published more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific articles in the journal Nature and elsewhere. associated publications, in which they describe their most recent revolutionary discoveries.
- Key to identifying and understanding changes that lead to disease
- AI and technology at the service of scientific advances
- The impact of the cell atlas in digestive pathologies
Key to identifying and understanding changes that lead to disease
This group of research covers a wide variety of areas: from how the placenta and skeleton are formed, to new findings on the developing brain, the responses of the respiratory system to COVID-19 and the cells of the intestine linked to inflammation. They also explore how genetic variants can influence the onset of diseases. Together, these studies provide crucial tools and practical examples for building large-scale cellular atlases.
The HCA uses advanced technologies, such as spatial and single-cell genomics, to design detailed maps of all the cells in the body, which will accurately detect the changes that lead to the development of a disease and facilitate more accurate diagnoses, innovative treatments and regenerative approaches in medicine. So far they have profiled more than 100 million cells from about 10,000 people, moving toward an initial draft of the atlas.
Professor Sarah Teichmann, co-founder of HCA, has compared this enormous task to creating a “Google Maps” of the human body. “The Human Cell Atlas is a global initiative that is already transforming our understanding of human health. By creating a comprehensive reference map of the healthy human body (a sort of ‘Google Maps’ for cell biology), it establishes a reference point for detecting and understanding the changes underlying health and disease. This new level of knowledge about specific genes, mechanisms and cell types within tissues is laying the foundation for more precise diagnoses, innovative drug discovery and advanced regenerative medicine approaches,” he explained in a note published by the HCA.
AI and technology at the service of scientific advances
This initiative also stands out for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and new algorithms that allow classifying cell types and comparing data efficiently, in a similar way to how reverse image search on the Internet works. This contributes to a deeper understanding of how our cells work and organize.
Additionally, the HCA is committed to including the genetic, cultural and geographic diversity of humanity in its research. An example of this is the Asian Immune Diversity Atlas, which analyzes the genetic particularities of underrepresented populations to ensure that scientific advances provide benefits to all communities.
Summary: “This new level of knowledge about specific genes, mechanisms, and cell types within tissues is laying the foundation for more precise diagnoses, innovative drug discovery, and advanced regenerative medicine approaches.”
Among the surprising findings of the HCA, for example, a study on the intestine that identified a type of cell involved in inflammation stands out, which could improve the treatment of diseases such as ulcerative colitis. Another study focused on the development of the human skeleton, providing key information about the origin of diseases such as arthritis.
Researchers have also created detailed maps of human development, such as one that looks at how the placenta forms during the first trimester of pregnancy. These maps not only provide valuable information to better understand human biology, but also serve as a basis for future therapies.
“This landmark collection of papers from the international Human Cell Atlas community underscores the tremendous progress toward mapping every type of human cell and how they change as we grow,” said Dr. Jeremy Farrar, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization. and we grow old. “The insights emerging from these discoveries are already reshaping our understanding of health and disease, paving the way for transformative health benefits that will impact lives around the world.”
The impact of the cell atlas in digestive pathologies
The discoveries described in Nature cover a large number of areas, including diseases that affect the digestive system. Iago Rodríguez-Lago, gastroenterologist at the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit of the Digestive System Service of the Galdakao-Usansolo University Hospital, has explained some of the benefits associated with this advance in statements to SMC Spain.
“This atlas has combined information from healthy people and those with certain pathologies such as inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease) or celiac disease, which has made it possible to identify specific cellular changes in them, highlighting the role of associated epithelial metaplasia. to intestinal inflammation.
“In Spain, celiac disease affects one in every 71 people in the child population and in every 357 in adults, while inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is present in 0.7% of the Spanish population. In addition to this, especially for the latter, the incidence is increasing progressively and it is expected to affect more than 450,000 people.”
“Despite being increasingly common, the great heterogeneity in their manifestations in each person makes them extremely complex both for diagnosis and for individualizing any treatment. Therefore, the application of high resolution techniques at the cellular level, and within international efforts such as those of these studies, are the basis to continue advancing our knowledge in the coming years.”
“The resolution at the cellular and spatial level of these analyzes creates a unique framework that allows significant progress in the knowledge of the mechanisms behind these pathologies, as well as in the search for markers associated with the diseases.” [diferentes] demonstrations and history[s] natural[es] that we observe among patients, opening a great opportunity to search for new treatment targets and to apply measures that are as individualized as possible in each person. “These discoveries underline the importance of addressing inflammation at the cellular level and establish a basis for applying these perspectives to other tissues and inflammatory diseases, marking a milestone in the search for innovative treatments,” concludes the expert.
