How many cells are there in my body?


Well obviously it depends on the size of your body!

America’s National Institutes of Health suggests an answer of approximately 37.3 million million cells for a typical adult human, which seems a bit boggling but gives a reasonable estimate of body weight.

If we assume each cell is approximately 0.01 mm x 0.01 x 0.01 mm in size then that corresponds to a volume of approximately 0.037 cubic metres or 37 litres.

If cells have the same density as water, they would account for roughly 37 kg – about half the weight of a typical person.

This seems reasonable to me.

Picture: Cells in a trichrome-stained photomicrograph