Published: March 22, 2012
Paul G. Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft, announced on Wednesday that he would commit $300 million over the next 10 years to turn the Allen Institute for Brain Science, a nonprofit organization he established to build a database of neural information, into a center for basic neuroscience investigation.
The institute will focus on counting and classifying the different types of neurons, illuminating the molecular machinery within the cells that can cause problems, and studying how the cells process information in networks, using as a model the visual system in mice.
Mr. Allen, whose 2011 book about Microsoft’s early days, “Idea Man,” exposed a rift with his fellow philanthropist and company co-founder Bill Gates, said in a news conference that his growing investment in brain science, now more than $500 million, has both intellectual and personal motives.
“As someone who has been touched by the impact of a neurodegenerative disease — my mother has Alzheimer’s — there’s both a fascination in basic research and the hope that we can move things forward.”
Experts in brain science have expressed frustration at the pace of discovery and the devastating complexity of brain disorders. The Allen Institute, which began operating in 2003 as a resource for researchers, created brain “atlases” of the mouse and adult human brains and electronic maps accessible online that show which genes are switched on in neurons. The site has been getting about 50,000 visits per month. Still, researchers have learned very little about the causes of brain disorders.
“This is a hugely challenging area,” Mr. Allen said, “and it cries out for this kind of industrial-scale effort.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/health/research/paul-allen-adding-300-million-for-brain-research.html?ref=health
