Editorial: The Human Cell Atlas. What Is It and Where Could It Take Us?

Abstract

The Human Cell Atlas (HCA) Consortium was founded in 2016 as an open global initiative to map each cell type in the human body and create a three-dimensional (3-D) atlas. As of December 2024, 18 Biological Networks are assembling the first draft of the HCA from organs, tissues, and organ systems, including the heart, lung, liver, and immune system. Although the completed first version of the HCA should be released within a year, possibly two, the HCA Biological Networks are making the atlases available on the HCA Data Portal as they are released. Since 2016, the Consortium has grown to include more than 3,200 members from more than 1,700 institutes and now involves 99 countries to allow data from diverse geographic and ethnic groups and age ranges. The freely available data and cell maps will help transform future healthcare by improving the understanding of tissue-specific human cell biology in health and disease. This Editorial aims to provide an update on the current status of the HCA and highlights how this encyclopedia of cells will be an important step towards providing better care to individual patients, which will benefit all of humanity.