Researchers have created an early map of some of the human body’s estimated 37.2 trillion cells.
Each type of cell has a unique role, and knowing what all the cells do can help scientists better understand health and diseases such as cancer.
Scientists focused on certain organs — plotting the jobs of cells in the mouth, stomach and intestines, as well as cells that guide how bones and joints develop. They also explored which cells group into tissues, where they’re located in the body and how they change over time.
They hope the high-resolution, open-access atlas — considered a first draft — will help researchers fight diseases that damage or corrupt human cells.
“When things go wrong, they go wrong with our cells first and foremost,” said Aviv Regev, co-chair of the Human Cell Atlas consortium who was involved with the research.
The findings were published Wednesday in Nature and related journals.
Click on the link below to continue…
