Files and links (1)
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body
PLoS Biology, Vol.14(8), e1002533
19/Aug/2016
Abstract
Reported values in the literature on the number of cells in the body differ by orders of magnitude and are very seldom supported by any measurements or calculations. Here, we integrate the most up-to-date information on the number of human and bacterial cells in the body. We estimate the total number of bacteria in the 70 kg "reference man" to be 3.8?1013. For human cells, we identify the dominant role of the hematopoietic lineage to the total count (90%) and revise past estimates to 3.0?1013 human cells. Our analysis also updates the widely-cited 10:1 ratio, showing that the number of bacteria in the body is actually of the same order as the number of human cells, and their total mass is about 0.2 kg.
Details
- Title
- Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body
- Creators
- Ron Sender (null) - The Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Plant and Environmental SciencesShai Fuchs (Corresponding Author) - The Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Molecular GeneticsRon Milo (Corresponding Author) - The Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- PLoS Biology, Vol.14(8), e1002533; 19/Aug/2016
- Language
- English
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002533
- Grant note
- This work was funded by the European Research Council (Project NOVCARBFIX 646827, https://erc.europa.eu/funding-and-grants); Dana and Yossie Hollander; Helmsley Charitable Foundation; The Larson Charitable Foundation; The Estate of David Arthur Barton; The Anthony Stalbow Charitable Trust, and Stella Gelerman, Canada. RM is the Charles and Louise Gartner professional chair and an EMBO young investigator program member. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors are thankful to the following colleagues for help in this study: Yaron Avitzur, Jorg Bernhardt, Eva Bianconi, Pascal Buenzli, Silvia Canaider, Dan Davidi, Eran Elinav, Avi Flamholz, Miki Goldenfeld, Tal Korem, Uri Moran, Nigel Orme, Rob Phillips, Silvio Pitlik, Jonathan Rosenblatt, Eran Segal, Maya Shamir, Jeff Shander, Tomer Shlomi, Rotem Sorek, Pierluigi Strippoli, Gerald Tannock, Christoph Thaiss, Jonathan Wasserman, Dave Wernick, Aryeh Wides, and Lionel Wolberger.
- Record Identifier
- 993264559803596
Metrics
13 Record Views