BRAIN-funded consortium publishes a human brain cell atlas of more than 3,000 cell types

NIH/BRAIN Initiative

Researchers in the NIH BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network released 21 papers mapping the cells of the whole human brain. They sorted more than 3,000 kinds of brain cells, giving labs a common reference for comparing healthy and diseased tissue. The work moves on to a follow-on network, BICAN, aimed at fuller human and primate atlases.

• More than 3,000 cell types described across the whole brain.
• 21 papers: 12 in Science, 8 in Science Advances, 1 in Science Translational Medicine.
• Product of the Cell Census Network, a five-year program launched in 2017.
• Next phase: the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN).