Whitehead Maps 600,000 Cells in First Whole-Body Vertebrate Atlas
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – October 30, 2026 -- Whitehead Institute researchers have profiled more than 600,000 cells from the transparent fish Danionella cerebrum to build the first comprehensive whole-body single-cell atlas of an adult vertebrate, according to a study published in Science on October 29.
Atlas links gene activity to cell location across the whole animal
The map is a single-cell transcriptome atlas, a record of which genes are active in which cell. The team used single-cell RNA sequencing on cells collected from the brain, spinal cord, eyes, internal organs, fins, head and trunk. It paired those data with spatial methods that place cell types and gene activity patterns in their tissue locations. The atlas captures even exceptionally rare cell populations.
The data give researchers a baseline for testing how injury, aging, drugs or other changes affect cells across the whole animal.