Scientists just hit a big milestone in understanding how human body works (a project thats been going for about 8 years now). The research team which includes Aviv Regev and Sarah Teichmann is working on mapping every single one of our 37 trillion cells
Their newest findings show exactly how bones form: theres this cool thing where cartilage works like a scaffold for bones to grow on — except for the top of your skull which does its own thing. The team found some interesting stuff about soft spots in babies heads and how genes might make them close too early
The scientists also mapped out the whole digestive system from top-to-bottom; they discovered new cells that might explain why some people get stomach problems. Plus‚ they looked at this thing called the thymus — its like a training camp for immune cells
First of all‚ its our basic human curiosity. We want to know what weʼre made of
The team is using some pretty high-tech stuff to figure all this out including AI thats kind of like “ChatGPT for cells“. Alexandra-Chloe Villani from Massachusetts General Hospital says their work is already helping with:
- cancer research
- covid-19 studies
- heart problems
- lung diseases
- gut issues
They think theyll have a first draft of the whole thing done in about a year or so. This work could change how doctors spot and fix health problems — its like getting a super-detailed map of the human body for the first time