Human Cell Atlas

In News

• Recently, scientists mapped out more than a million cells across 33 organs in the human body which can provide unparalleled insights into health and diseases.

About the research

• Researchers looked at single immune cells from deceased individuals to understand the function of immune cells in different tissues.
• Foetal tissues were also studied to generate a map of the developing immune system across gestation stages — the period between conception and birth.

• Mapping was also specifically undertaken about cells that host genes linked to diseases like muscular dystrophy or heart disease.
• Study observed multiple tissues from human donors. The researchers named it the Tabula Sapiens cell atlas.

Human Cell Atlas 

• The Human Cell Atlas is an open global initiative, founded in 2016, that charts the cell types in the healthy body, across time from development to adulthood, and eventually to old age.
• By using cutting-edge single cell and spatial genomics and computational techniques, HCA researchers are creating a unique “ID card” for each cell type.

Significance of Human Cell Atlas

• Atlas will facilitate the development of better drugs and more accurate predictions of unintended toxicity. 
• It will also aid regenerative medicine — the process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs to establish normal function.
• The atlas will help researchers to answer key questions in diverse biological fields.
  • In cellular taxonomy, it might enable the discovery and identification of cell types and molecular markers or signatures (a collection of genes, say, that characterise a specific cell type). 
  • In histology, it should enable researchers to relate tissue structure to the position of cells and molecules. 
  • Developmental biologists will be able to use it to track cell fate and lineage. 
  • Physiologists could characterise dynamic states, such as the cell cycle, and transient responses such as a T cell’s reaction to a pathogen. 

Indian Initiatives 

• Project Manav:  
  • Department of Biotechnology’s (DBT) MANAV : Human Atlas Initiative aims at creating a database network of all tissues in the human body from the available scientific literature.
  • The programme will involve gaining better biological insights through physiological and molecular mapping, develop disease models through predictive computing and have a holistic analysis and finally drug discovery.
  • Such a database on individual tissues, once ready, can come handy in tracing the causes of a disease, understanding specific pathways and ultimately decode the body’s disease stage linked to tissues and cells.
• IndiGen Project:  
  • This programme, an initiative of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR), is about undertaking whole genome sequencing of thousands of individuals representing diverse ethnic groups from India.
  • The project aims to help researchers develop therapies for various diseases, including cancer.

Source: DTE, Nature