The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) announced $28 million in grants to support the inclusion of data from tissue samples from ancestrally diverse donors in the Human Cell Atlas (HCA). A total of 16 teams of researchers were successful – including single-cell biologists, tissue experts, computational biologists, and community-engaged researchers, who represent 31 different countries.
The "Ancestrally Inclusive Musculoskeletal Atlas Network" is receiving $2m in funding. The network is a global collaboration between multiple research institutes – the University of Oxford (UK), University of Bristol (UK), African Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology (Zimbabwe), University of Cambridge (UK), University of Southampton (UK) – with tissue collections spanning India, Zimbabwe, Turkey, The Gambia, Oman and Argentina.
The musculoskeletal system accounts for over one-third of adult body mass and is essential for locomotion, fine motor control and independence. A cellular 'road-map' of ancestrally inclusive healthy musculoskeletal tissues will provide fundamental metrics to define the diverse tissues of the musculoskeletal system.