How many cells are in the human body?

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Scientists estimates that there are approximately 30 trillion cells in the human body

Scientists estimates that there are approximately 30 trillion cells in the human body

I Contain Multitudes

Image from Sender 2016

A question that I have always wondered is, how many cells are in the human body. I have seen many stats tossed around, but I had not seen the science to back this up. So I did a quick search this afternoon and in 2013 Bianconi and colleagues estimated that there are 37 trillion cells in the human body and an updated review published in 2016 estimates that the human body contains 30 trillion cells (the vast majority of cells are red blood cells) and contains about 40 trillion bacteria. 

Links for The Curious

Bianconi, E., Piovesan, A., Facchin, F., Beraudi, A., Casadei, R., Frabetti, F., . . . Canaider, S. (2013). An estimation of the number of cells in the human body. Annals of Human Biology.

Sender, R., Fuchs, S., & Milo, R. (2016). Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body. PLOS Biology.