Web map details mysteries of the brain

SEATTLE, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have completed a $40 million Web-based, three-dimensional map of gene expression in the mouse brain.

The researchers at Seattle's Allen Institute for Brain Science say their accomplishment signals a remarkable leap forward in one of the last frontiers of medical science -- the brain.

Detailing more than 21,000 genes at the cellular level, the Allen Brain Atlas provides scientists with a level of data previously not available. And, since humans share more than 90 percent of their genes with mice, the atlas offers the potential of furthering our understanding of human disorders and diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy, schizophrenia, autism and addiction.

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, who provided $100 million to found the institute in 2003, said, "The comprehensive information provided by the atlas will help lead scientists to new insights and propel the field of neuroscience forward dramatically."

The atlas shows which brain genes are active and which regions and cells they are expressed in, thereby linking them to particular brain functions.

The atlas is available to the public at no cost at brain-map.org.