Medical News

17.03.08: The Concepts Behind The Brain Atlas

The Brain Atlas is the first product of a new brain research institute - Allen Institute for Brain Science - that Allen created in Seattle. He says he spent $100 million of his own funds to launch it, partly because he'd watched aging relatives battle degenerative brain diseases. All diseases, including brain diseases, stem from mutations or other changes in the estimated 21,000 genes that make up human DNA. To help understand these processes better, top scientists assembled by Allen advised him to create a roadmap of genes active in the brain. Allan Jones is scientific director of the Allen Brain Institute. One researcher who's used the Allen Brain Atlas is Dr. Susan Swedo. She oversees autism research at the National Institute of Mental Health.