The Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle has unveiled a comprehensive map of the human brain — namely, the genes acting in any specific location. This groundbreaking project has been four years and $55 million in the making.
The project combines anatomic maps — which scientists currently obtain by performing a magnetic resonance scan — overlain with information about gene activity. There are one thousand anatomical sites in the brain correlated with over 100 million data points which show biochemistry and gene expression at each site. For example, the image below shows where the drug Prozac acts; clicking on a dot will show all known genes for that site as well as its biochemistry.
The project used the brains of two males, which had to be frozen and sliced within 24 hours of death. Once the Allen Institute received the brains they took even thinner slices and stained them with various chemicals to untangle the biochemical and genomic data.
It was found that the two brains were 94% similar, and show that we express at least 82% of all our genes in the brain. CEO Allan Jones wasn’t at all surprised and told Wired that:
When you think about the complexity of the functions of the brain, and the variety of different cell types found within the brain, it’s not quite as surprising to see how much of the genome is used to serve the brain.
The Allen Institute will examine 10 or more brains, at least one of which will be female. NewScientist explains that the reason for the under-representation is that eligible brains come from victims of cardiac arrest, a disease which disproportionately affects males.
Jones says that:
Until now, a definitive map of the human brain, at this level of detail, simply hasn’t existed. The Allen Human Brain Atlas provides never-before-seen views into our most complex and most important organ. Understanding how our genes are used in our brains will help scientists and the medical community better understand and discover new treatments for the full spectrum of brain diseases and disorders, from mental illness and drug addiction, to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, multiple sclerosis, autism and more.
This very exciting development will allow researchers to see drug action more clearly, better understand what’s involved when the brain malfunctions, and overall “reinforces the idea that you have to integrate data and information from a variety of sources if you want to have a true understanding and a true shot at managing the complex diseases of the brain”, says Dr. Tagliati of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California.
She calls the map a ‘leap’ more than a mere step forward for brain science, underscoring the truly remarkable accomplishment which is already being used by over 4,000 scientists.
The Allen Institute for Brain Science was launched by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen and has been fueling discovery since its inception, accelerating comprehension of how the human brain works by tackling projects at the intersection of biology and technology. As a nonprofit organization, the Allen Institute infamously mapped the brain of a mouse back in 2006 and just like with that project, the human brain atlas is made available for free, accessible at brain-map.org.
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All images: Allen Institute, via Wired
