Allen Institute for Brain Science
Encyclopedia
The Allen Institute for Brain Science is a Seattle-based nonprofit medical research organization
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...

 that was launched in 2003 with a $100 million seed donation from philanthropist, founder and former Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 executive Paul Allen
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...

.

Overview

The Allen Institute for Brain Science is an independent, nonprofit medical research organization dedicated to accelerating the understanding of how the human brain works. The Allen Institute generates innovative public resources used by researchers and organizations around the globe and drives technological and analytical advances that create new knowledge and provide new ways to address questions about the brain in health and disease. The Allen Institute's work and efforts are intended to fuel innovation and discovery for the scientific community worldwide.

Online Public Resources

The Allen Institute for Brain Science provides researchers and educators with a variety of unique online public resources for exploring the nervous system. Integrating extensive gene expression data and neuroanatomy, complete with sophisticated data search and viewing tools, these resources are all openly accessible via the Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas
The Allen Mouse Brain Atlas is a project within the Allen Institute for Brain Science which seeks to combine genomics with neuroanatomy by creating gene expression maps for the mouse brain. It was initiated in September 2003 with a $100 million donation from Paul G. Allen.The atlas went public in...

 data portal and include:
  • Allen Mouse Brain Atlas
  • Allen Spinal Cord Atlas
  • Allen Developing Mouse Brain Atlas
  • Allen Human Brain Atlas
  • and a several others.

Spinal cord map

The Allen Institute for Brain Science, on July 16, 2008, launched the online
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....

 "Allen Spinal Cord
Spinal cord
The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain . The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system...

 Atlas" (backed by a diverse consortium of funders including the ALS Association, PVA Research Foundation, Wyeth Research, PEMCO Insurance, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, International Spinal Research Trust, philanthropist and Allen Institute founder Paul Allen
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...

, as well as other anonymous donors ). Allan Jones, Ph.D., now chief executive officer of the Allen Institute, said: "The Allen Spinal Cord Atlas offers profound potential for researchers to unlock the mysteries of the spinal cord and how it is altered during disease or injury."

The spinal cord atlas is an interactive, genome-wide map showing where each gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

 is expressed, or "turned on", throughout the mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...

 spinal cord. It is set up like the Allen Institute's earlier atlas of the adult mouse brain.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15014341/ The map could help reveal new treatments for human neurological disorders. The map points researchers toward places where genes are active http://mousespinal.brain-map.org/

Funding

The Allen Institute for Brain Science was launched in 2003 with generous seed funding from founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen and is supported by a diversity of public and private funds.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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