Regev compared scientific knowledge of cell biology before the Human Cell Atlas initiative with a “15 th century map.” “Now, years later, the resolution of the map is a lot higher,” she said.

"This photo is the most detailed model of a human cell to date, obtained using X-ray, NMR, and cryo-electron microscopy data sets," reads the caption of a Facebook post shared Nov. 27.

In fact, it is not even a real image of a human cell. The "image" is actually a 3D computer illustration of a eukaryotic cell—found in humans but also in animals, plants, and fungi—and not a ...

The human body comprises roughly 37 trillion cells, with each cell type having a unique function. Sign up here. The researchers aim to have a first draft of the atlas done in the next year or two.

In a recent paper in the journal Nature, Ideker and his colleagues presented their latest attempt to fill this information gap: a fine-grained map of a human cell, showing the locations of more than 5 ...