HCA for the Public

The Human Cell Atlas initiative is committed to providing a broad benefit to the wider human communities to which we belong – including explaining our science to those who might not be deeply familiar with our fields, but are nonetheless interested in the work we do.
Below, you can find Public Engagement initiatives and further media about HCA aimed at a general audience.

Public Engagement

UNESCO Virtual Science Museum

The HCA and its co-founders Aviv Regev and Sarah Teichmann are featured in the UNESCO Virtual Science Museum, in their Women in Science exhibition. The online museum enables people around the world to explore scientific stories and builds public trust in science.

Image credit: Genentech, Inc/Wellcome Sanger Institute

Exhibition in San Mateo

The HCA featured in an exhibition at San Mateo Public Library, California, USA. More than 7,000 people visited the Library during the USA’s National Library Week in April, and the exhibition is scheduled to remain on view 20 April to 20 September 2026.

Image credit: San Mateo Public Library Foundation.

The World of Molecular Biology (EMBL)

HCA research is featured within this interactive exhibition of molecular biology at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, based at EMBL (Heidelberg, Germany), at the EMBL-EBI (Wellcome Genome Campus, UK), and online. Take the virtual tour and see the HCA exhibit within the ‘Life is Amazing’ section on level 1.

One Cell At A Time

Bringing together artists and researchers, the One Cell At A Time programme aimed to show how HCA research could impact how we think of the body, and deepen public trust in research. Many of the activities' outputs were compiled into an online exhibition.

Further details and timeline of activities

Further Videos and Information

Below, you can see press coverage and other content aimed at a general audience. Please feel free to send us your questions, and we will answer the most frequent ones in our FAQ.