The human brain, the headmaster and integral organ behind thought, movement, organ function and the progression of numerous diseases including Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and autism, has until now remained largely inaccessible to scientists interested in fully mapping its gene origin and expression.
Beyond neuroscience’s advances in brain mapping and imaging that began in the 19th century, the body's most complex organ has remained semi-inaccessible to researchers attempting to understand the brain’s DNA origin and to detail its intricate structures and associated functions.
In April 2011, however, further layers of the brain’s mysterious veil was lifted. The Allen Institute for Brain Science, a non-profit medical research organization dedicated to understanding how the human brain works, announced the first anatomically and genomically comprehensive human brain map called the Allen Human Brain Atlas.
Once believed an unthinkable feat, the Institute’s human brain project began after the successful mapping of an adult mouse brain in 2006. The Institute created leading-edge brain mapping technology and completed more than four years of intense data study and documentation.
Adult Brains Similar – Data Provides Powerful Tool for Understanding Neurological Diseases
Thoroughly profiling and mapping the biochemistry of two normal adult human brains, the Institute conducted comprehensive comparisons. The resulting data gave scientists the opportunity to study the brain with new detail and greater accuracy and revealed a staggering 94 percent similarity between human brains. Such strong intra-human brain concordance offers an unprecedented tool for neuroscientists around the world, establishing strong patterns that can be used in translational research, the process of translating scientific discoveries to lower cancer incidence, morbidity, and mortality.
Data from the two human brains also revealed that at least 82 percent of all human genes are expressed in the brain, supportive evidence of the brain's integral involvement in numerous processes and disease states in the body. By decoding how human brain genes are expressed in the body, scientists obtain an essential genetic blueprint to better understand the brain’s functionality and to advance research in neurological diseases and other disorders.
Despite the success of the Human Genome Project in mapping gene expression, scientists on that project had little idea which genes made up the brain and where they were expressed, explains Jonah Lehrer in his Wired.com article and interview with the Allen Institute of Brain Science's CEO.
Allen Jones, Ph.D., CEO of the Allen Institute for Brain Science explains in an April 2011 press release that complex mapping of the human brain in such intricate detail never existed until now, and that the technology will greatly benefit disease treatment, “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," explained Jones.
Researchers will be able to pinpoint areas of the brain where a drug’s biochemical target is expressed, seeing with precise data mapping and corresponding 3D imaging which genes “turn on” with a particular drug, as well as the related positive or negative effects that result.
Human Brain Atlas Technology Like High Functioning GPS System
Until now, scientists had to navigate the brain with limited guidance and understanding, flying semi-blind so to speak. “The maps of the brain we currently have are like those antique maps people used to draw of the New World,” said Jones during the Wired.com interview a few years before the Institute’s project was completed. “We can see the crude outlines of the structure, but we have no idea what’s happening on the inside,” he said.
While the Institute’s Human Brain Atlas technology is more complex than a car’s navigational system, the mechanism is in fact similar to a high-powered, multifunctional GPS system, identifying 1,000 anatomical sites in the human brain, backed by more than 100 million data points that indicate the particular gene expression and underlying biochemistry of each site.
Such detailed brain mapping allows scientists to explore the human brain to identify how disease and trauma, including physical brain injuries and mental health disorders, affect specific areas of the brain. "The Allen Institute is a powerful force in modern science," said Dr. Edward Jones, a neuroscientist at the University of California, for the Institute’s press release. "They've applied an industrialized approach and high-output technology to accomplish what no other lab has ever done. The original data produced for the mouse brain revolutionized neuroscience and now the Allen Human Brain Atlas delivers extremely rare and essential information that most researchers could not otherwise access." said Jones.
Allen Institute Offers Public Access to Human Brain Atlas Data
The project was a monumental undertaking of time, money and resources, so the results can’t easily be replicated by other researchers given the cost of the study’s infrastructure and data generation, and because it’s difficult to obtain high quality normal human brain tissue. The totality of the data output across the brain provides an unprecedented tool for neuroscientists to connect brain areas to various disease states, and to more effectively target drug therapies.
While brain banks are accessible to the research community, these are often for very specific regions. Model brain systems are useful to scientists but are limited in their scope to use for translational research. Ultimately, says Jones, to treat diseases a comprehensive view and understanding of the brain is necessary.
The database is available for free to scientists, physicians and the education community as an online public resource at Brain-map.org. The Allen Institute provides the mapping database to researchers around the world to use in their hypotheses and to confirm their own findings. The availability of such a comprehensive brain mapping database can save researchers from having to do their own laboratory experiments, which in turn saves time and money, explains Dr. Allan Jones. Next up for the Institute is to address challenges in neuroscience related to encoding information.
The human body's most complex organ has until now, presented areas of unchartered territory for neuroscientists. Because such a large majority of human genes are expressed in the brain, as geneticists continue to study how gene changes lead to certain diseases either through inheritable DNA factors or through factors outside the DNA (termed epigenetics), the Human Brain Atlas technology will help scientists locate genes that activate certain diseases and then create therapies to more effectively treat illness.
Sources
- Allen Institute for Brain Science. "First comprehensive gene map of the human brain: More than 90 percent similarity among humans." ScienceDaily, 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.
- Lehrer, Jonah. “The Human Brain Gets a New Map.” Wired.com. April 12, 2011. Accessed April 28, 2011.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.
Laura Owens - Laura Owens has a B.S. in Psychology from Rollins College & U of FL. She is a freelance writer with expertise in motivation & wellness.
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