The Organoid Cell Atlas: A Rosetta Stone for Biomedical Discovery and Regenerative Therapy

<p>Human organoids – three-dimensional structures of cells that recapitulate important aspects of organ development in vitro – hold tremendous potential for biomedical applications. To help deliver on the promises of combining human organoids with single-cell technology, we have launched an Organoid Cell Atlas pilot project, as a ‘Biological Network’ within the Human Cell Atlas (HCA), focusing on single-cell profiling of organoids and in vitro cell models (<a href="https://www.humancellatlas.org/coordinators/">https://www.humancellatlas.org/coordinators/</a>). The Organoid Cell Atlas will foster the production, quality control, dissemination, and utilization of single-cell and spatial genomics data for human organoids, and it will connect such datasets with the comprehensive profiles of primary tissue that are being generated within the HCA. A first step toward establishing the Organoid Cell Atlas has recently been funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 call for “Pilot actions to build the foundations of a human cell atlas” through the “HCA|Organoid” project (<a href="http://hca-organoid.eu/">http://hca-organoid.eu/</a>). This preprint outlines the rationale for combining human organoids with single-cell technology and the concrete plans for established the Organoid Cell Atlas as a Rosetta Stone for biomedical discovery and regenerative therapy.</p>