A cellular map of the future
The aim of the Human Cell Atlas (HCA) is simple…
“To create comprehensive reference maps of all human cells—the fundamental units of life – as a basis for understanding human health and diagnosing, monitoring, and treating disease.”
While it might seem like an overly bold and wonderfully ambitious goal, the project has already delivered astounding insights with a globally inclusive perspective. Within only eight years of its launch, the consortium already announced its first batch of mapped cells that will aid in constructing the first draft of their atlas, due in 2026. In November 2024, a series of 40 papers mapped a staggering 62 million human cells to 18 biological networks, including the lungs, heart, intestines, and immune system.
The resolution revolution
We still don’t know all the types of cells within our bodies, and the intricate relationships between cells that work together to keep us healthy remain largely a mystery. The HCA looks to change that by building molecular maps of individual cells and connecting them to their function in tissues.
To achieve this, the HCA harnesses the latest single-cell sequencing technologies to reveal which of the 20,000 genes in an individual cell are switched on or off, followed by advanced computational and AI analyses to provide each cell with a molecular signature. This ‘molecular ID’ allows the researchers to find entirely new cell types with potentially unknown functions. The HCA researchers also use spatial transcriptomics technologies combined with powerful computing and artificial intelligence methods to physically map the gene expression of these individual cells to precise locations in organs and tissues to help understand their relationships with their neighbors, information that could give crucial insights into disease.
For instance, in Belgium, researchers from the Taghon lab at the Cancer Research Institute Ghent joined forces with machine learning experts from the Saeyes lab at VIB and other international scientists to use these cutting-edge genomics technologies and new advanced analysis tools to precisely map the entire thymus as part of the HCA. Their cell atlas could provide insights into syndromes involving the thymus, including Down’s syndrome and DiGeorge syndrome, while aiding in vitro tissue engineering efforts to build a biological factory that produces immune cells in the lab via an artificial organ.
A globally inclusive approach
Aside from its ambitious aims, another thing that sets the HCA apart from similar studies is its focus on diversity. Geographical, lifestyle, gender, and genetic diversity in the biological samples researchers gather, and the data they generate are core to a comprehensive understanding of human biology necessary for real scientific and social benefit.
However, all too often, large-scale consortia don’t include the majority of the world’s population, like individuals of African, Asian, Hispanic, or Latin American ancestry or indigenous peoples around the globe, meaning that medical breakthroughs are rarely equally beneficial to all.
The HCA tackles this head-on in its commitments to humanity. It has set up a Task Force “to develop recommendations for representing diversity in the HCA project, recording diversity-related metadata, and ethically engaging underrepresented populations.”
As of April 2025, the project comprised over 3600 members from 102 countries on every inhabited continent, including 52 members from 24 institutions in Belgium. This geographical diversity ensures that local projects are carried out by local institutions, focusing on local priorities while being supported by (and supporting) global expertise and collective data that benefit everyone.
Embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion in science
In a first-of-its-kind for sub-Saharan Africa, a collaboration between various institutes in the United Kingdom and the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi, used single-cell transcriptomics to reveal that those who died from COVID-19 in Malawi had differences in the inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 virus compared to those who live in the Global North. Both genetic and environmental factors may be linked to the different responses, with the study serving as a prime example of how targeted research can lead to more effective treatments for otherwise overlooked populations.
We have over 9000 donors from around the world to thank for the highly diversified HCA dataset. The diverse and inclusive nature of the participants and the ethos of the HCA will drive discoveries that would be impossible to make otherwise.
Crucially, all aspects of the project, from the raw data to the analysis code, are available to the public for free. This removes any paywalls for researchers from regions where funds are tight, undoubtedly paving the way to unimagined future discoveries.
In today’s world, more than ever, diversity, equity, and inclusion should be at the heart of everything we do, from the workplace to astounding, inclusive scientific endeavors like the HCA. The HCA is a beacon of what is possible when this is achieved.
