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Impact of the Human Cell Atlas on medicine

Nature Medicine volume 28, pages 2486–2496 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Single-cell atlases promise to provide a ‘missing link’ between genes, diseases and therapies. By identifying the specific cell types, states, programs and contexts where disease-implicated genes act, we will understand the mechanisms of disease at the cellular and tissue levels and can use this understanding to develop powerful disease diagnostics; identify promising new drug targets; predict their efficacy, toxicity and resistance mechanisms; and empower new kinds of therapies, from cancer therapies to regenerative medicine. Here, we lay out a vision for the potential of cell atlases to impact the future of medicine, and describe how advances over the past decade have begun to realize this potential in common complex diseases, infectious diseases (including COVID-19), rare diseases and cancer.

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Fig. 1: Potential medical impacts of the Human Cell Atlas and remaining challenges.
Fig. 2: Single-cell atlases have been collected for a broad range of organs and disease tissues.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is part of the Human Cell Atlas. A.M. and S.A.T. acknowledge core funding from Wellcome (grants 206194 and 108413/A/15/D).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Jennifer E. Rood, Aidan Maartens.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, USA

    Jennifer E. Rood, Anna Hupalowska & Aviv Regev

  2. Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK

    Aidan Maartens & Sarah A. Teichmann

  3. Theory of Condensed Matter, Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Sarah A. Teichmann

Authors
  1. Jennifer E. Rood
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  2. Aidan Maartens
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  3. Anna Hupalowska
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  4. Sarah A. Teichmann
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Sarah A. Teichmann or Aviv Regev.

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Competing interests

A.R. is a co-founder and equity holder of Celsius Therapeutics, an equity holder in Immunitas Therapeutics and, until 31 July 2020, was a scientific advisory board member of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Syros Pharmaceuticals, Asimov and Neogene Therapeutics. From 1 August 2020, A.R. is an employee of Genentech and has equity in Roche. A.R. is a named inventor on multiple patents related to single-cell and spatial genomics filed by or issued to the Broad Institute. J.E.R. and A.H. are employees of Genentech and have equity in Roche. In the past three years, S.A.T. has consulted or been a member of scientific advisory boards at Roche, Genentech, Biogen, GlaxoSmithKline, Qiagen and ForeSite Labs, and is an equity holder of Transition Bio.

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Rood, J.E., Maartens, A., Hupalowska, A. et al. Impact of the Human Cell Atlas on medicine. Nat Med 28, 2486–2496 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02104-7

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