• Question: how many cells are in the human body

    Asked by ledw to Christina, Colin, Jess, Samaneh, Steve on 18 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Jess Bean

      Jess Bean answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      Absolutely trillions! A conservative estimate is around 100 trillion!

      Of course these are estimates – It’s really hard to count how many cells there are in the body. Firstly because more are made and die every second. Your body is not one big bag of one set of cells – it is a continually growing and developing thing.

      Secondly, it would be really hard to count every cell! Things like skin and liver cells are really easy to count as they are big and can be easily seen under a microscope. Think about the other cells though! Bones are made of cells that are surrounded by a solid shell of ‘cement’ like material. Blood is a load of cells that are constantly being sent around the body! It would be a mammoth undertaking!

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