WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - More than 3,600 scientists from over 100 countries have built an early map of about 37.2 trillion cells, taking a major leap in 'understanding of the human body'.
According to several papers published in Nature and its related journals, the researchers analyzed over 10,000 individuals for the project, which was initially launched in 2016.
'Cells are the basic unit of life, and when things go wrong, they go wrong with our cells first and foremost,' said Aviv Regev, founding co-chair of the Human Cell Atlas and executive vice president for research and early development at Genentech.
'The challenge we've had is that we didn't know the cells well enough to understand how variants and mutations in our genes are really affecting disease. Once we have this map, we're able to better find the causes of disease.'
The researchers hope that the high resolution atlas of cells would help doctors to identify diseases, understand the working of genes and cell development, and unlock new treatment methods.
The final draft of the atlas is expected to release in 2026, detailing the location, identity and function of cells found in the organs and body systems.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
