HuDeCA (Human Developmental Cell Atlas) is a 3-year program initiated by Inserm to build a reference atlas of embryonic and fetal human cell types. The project has been designed from the outset to enable contributions to the Human Cell Atlas (HCA), an ambitious international initiative to map all normal cell states of the body at every human life stages.
The 1st key aspect of the programme is to establish a biobank to store and manage embryonic and fetal organs, tissues & cells. This biobank will constitute a resource of primary importance to enable research on early human development & understanding of congenital diseases. The 2nd aspect of the programme is to combine & integrate multiple techniques to establish the characteristics of cells within chosen embryonic & fetal organs. It will lead to the establishment of a comprehensive atlas of human cell types, from the earliest embryonic stage to the 12th post conception week (PCW) of fetal development, in non-pathological conditions.
New methods have been developed to study aspects of human development without crossing ethical boundaries determined by our societal values. Single-cell transcriptomics now provides access to the genetic identity card of each individual cell type at a given moment, enabling its lineage to be traced over time in vivo. An original aspect for validation and further research is the development of a unique imaging platform, combining state-of-the-art fluorescent molecular detection techniques in whole-mount human specimens with subsequent 3D imaging and rendering.
The consortium is committed to making their research data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR). Protocols and datasets will be made available to the scientific community as soon as the associated studies are published. Different types of resources (articles, related websites, videos) have also been gathered to explain key concepts and techniques used for the analysis of human cells.
