What is a cell type?

Cell atlases chart the molecular information of cells including its genetic make-up and the molecular changes along the cell’s lifespan. This information deepens our understanding of cell-to-tissue and disease development. In a Science Perspective article, Barbara Treutlein and colleagues at Roche’s Institute of Human Biology now question “What is a cell type?”, and call for future research into charting perturbations which alternate the cell’s molecular phenotype.