The Human Cell Atlas: mapping the body's building blocks

An adult human body is thought to consist of more than 37trn cells, of more than 5,000 distinct types. Surprisingly little is known about some of these fundamental biological building blocks. Through cutting-edge sequencing technology and enormous AI models, the Human Cell Atlas project is meticulously identifying and locating every type of cell in a person over the course of their lifetime. As a result, researchers are building an invaluable resource for studying development, disease and potential treatments—from digital twins of the human body to transplantable, lab-grown organs. We pay a visit to the Wellcome Sanger Institute and speak to the founder of the initiative. Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, with senior editor Geoff Carr. Contributors: Sarah Teichmann of the University of Cambridge; Liz Easthope, Katy Tudor, Muzlifah Haniffa, Nadav Yayon and Veronika Kedlian of the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.