Harnessing single-cell omics for farmed animal improvement and human health

Cellular heterogeneity underlies the regulation of complex traits and diseases, making cell-resolved molecular characterization fundamental for advancing precision agriculture and human biomedicine. Rapid advances in single-cell omics technologies, together with the ever-evolving computational methods, have led to the establishment of large-scale single cell atlases across multiple species, providing unprecedented opportunities to systematically dissect cellular diversity and regulatory mechanisms underlying complex phenotypes. In this review, we summarize recent progresses in single-cell sequencing technologies, reference cell atlas projects, and the integration of single-cell omics with population/quantitative genetics, as well as discuss how artificial intelligence and predictive perturbation modelling are reshaping single-cell research. Finally, we highlight future directions toward population-scale single-cell omics, AI-driven virtual cells/tissues, and genotype–cell/tissue–trait frameworks, which are expected to transform biological discovery, enable better design of veterinary medicines and human therapeutics, as well as accelerate sustainable farmed animal improvement and precision medicine.