Gene Map of Mouse Brain: Human Benefit

Sept. 26, 2006 -- A private laboratory backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen unveiled the complete genetic map of the mouse brain Tuesday, an advance researchers say could shave years off the time required to develop the next generation of gene-targeted drugs.

The map, dubbed a "Brain Atlas" by its creators, details the locations of more than 21,000 genes in a male mouse's brain. Researchers have placed the complete three-dimensional map on the Internet and opened it up to scientists and the public free of charge.

Scientists now spend months, and sometimes years, performing what essentially amounts to busy work: confirming that genes they suspect of playing a role in disease actually operate in a particular brain region.

The map will let scientists immediately locate such genes, at least in the mouse, potentially taking away the need for the confirmatory work. This means genes can now be ruled in or ruled out in a matter of minutes or hours, researchers said.

"All of the prospecting has been done. You can go there and start mining (the genes) yourself," said David Anderson, a California Institute of Technology brain researcher. He is a member of the board of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, which reported the project.

Sharing Knowledge

The atlas is the Seattle-based Institute's first major project since it was founded three years ago with a $100 million endowment from Allen.

It follows the publicly-funded Human Genome Project, which opened a complete catalogue of the human genetic sequence to the public in 2003.

Biotech and pharmaceutical companies already generate their own location maps for targeted genes in the brain.

Anderson said the Allen Institute's map is not only the largest created, but is also the first to be shared worldwide with all comers.

"We are very unique in that we're making all of this data publicly available," he told reporters at a briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington.