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Genetic Mapping of Mouse Brain Complete
Vicissitude writes "A 3-D reference atlas of the genes that are active in the mouse brain is now complete. The atlas was declared finished on Tuesday, although scientists have been using it regularly for more than a year. The project was started in 2002 with $100 million from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen." From the article: "'Since mice and humans share more than 90 percent of genes, the Allen Brain Atlas has enormous potential for understanding human neurological diseases and disorders affecting more than 50 million Americans each year,' the Allen Institute for Brain Science said. These include Alzheimer's disease, which affects 4.5 million Americans, autism, which may occur in one in every 175 births, epilepsy, which affects 2.7 million Americans, schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease."
this many million Americans, that many million Americans, does anybody else matter on this planet?
Now the gene mapping is finished, the real work can now begin.... I only half jokingly say this as all of the physiology needs to be performed on a baseline dataset now. It's interesting that a whole host of talents and technologies that were eclipsed by molecular biology and genetic engineering are now coming back into vogue. Technologies like electrophysiology and electron microscopy are now in hot demand.
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Genetic Mapping of Mouse Brain Complete
Then they can get started on mapping Pinky, and then they can take over the world!
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Considering all those medical advances related to enhancing the life of mice I must assume that our planet is run by a small group of super-enhanced labmice which managed to escape and take over.
Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?"
"The same thing we do every night, Pinky: Try to take over the world!"
Since mice and humans share more than 90 percent of genes, the Allen Brain Atlas has enormous potential for understanding human neurological diseases and disorders affecting more than 50 million Americans each year
That's an instant classic. Genes don't exactly work like this you know?
90% same genes isn't like 90% same species. We share over 70% with insects and over 50% with plants.
Yet, I wanna see someone claim that by dissecting oranges he can help us fight heart diseases.
Let's face it: he's a scientist, he wanted to do it, he had to convince the sponsors. That's fine..
What I am very curious to know is what the verdict is on the 99% of Junk DNA that mice have. Humans have a similar scenario but what "junk" means is that this DNA does not code into proteins or seem to have a function. I recall reading an article where lab scientists had successfully removed a large chunk of what was believed to be junk DNA.
Every mouse born missing that trait suffered a severe spine defect which looked like multiple sclerosis beyond belief. It was then believed that this deformity occurred in every mouse born but when inserted into junk DNA, it would be rendered harmless. Without the junk DNA to absorb the common deformity, the protein sequence for spinal cells was effectively altered nearly all the time.
Hopefully with this mapping, we'll be able to better understand mice (and, in turn humans and optimistically eukaryotes in general). And perhaps we'll be able to settle the dispute as to whether or not junk DNA has functions beyond our insight.
Unfortunately, I think one of the even more important tools for figuring out how Alzheimer's Desease occurs is understanding how proteins fold. Hopefully this will aid researchers looking to do this as a valuable tool.
My work here is dung.
This brain mapping might be just about a step too far with mouse experimentation. If you add up all the other improvements on them, and make them smart enough to escape, they are going to kick our asses. Then take our women. Not that the last part will bother too many people here. :p
/narf
What he can't kill, he has sex on. Trent.
We happen to be only the third most intelligent ones...
A coworker of mine tried to astonish me with the same fact. He said, "We have over 90% of the same genes as mice!"
It's not too astonishing to me. Considering from the point of DNA, you are no where close to the end product. I'm not a biologist but to my knowledge, DNA can be one of four acids. Those, in turn are read in varying lengths to make one of twenty different amino acids. Those amino acids can be read in varying lengths to be one of hundreds (if not thousands) different proteins which are the building blocks of life.
So if you want to shock me and tell me that between a mouse and I, nine in every ten genes is the same, I'm not going to be too shocked. If one in every ten is different, I could see the above transformation resulting in something no where near the same thing.
But the basic idea is very very well founded, any gene to protein research is good research. Since we know very little about that process and find it quite difficult to predict. The answer to Alzheimer's is believed to be rooted in this process and, by working backwards, we may be able to isolate the genes that cause it. That is, of course, assuming it's due to a twisted protein which may or may not be caused by a common virus or just age.
My work here is dung.
A 3-D reference atlas of the genes that are active in the mouse brain is now complete
Obviously they could only have mapped the portion of the mouse that intrudes into our dimension. Being transdimensional superior creatures, there's no way limited creatures in our dimension could get access to the most important parts of the mouse brain.
Mice and Americans share 90% of the genes? Wow!
...
Oh, wait that was mice and humans
Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again.
Sorry, couldn't resist >.
Well, Mr. Smith, I have goods news — and I have bad news. The good news is because of the Allen Brain Atlas, we have been able to determine exactly what is wrong with you and precisely how to put you back together.
The bad news is when the procedure is complete, your name will be "Algernon."
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.