The workhorse of the platform is single-cell genomics. Neuroscience needs a similar foundational resource, which the brain knowledge platform will help to create,” Lein said.

Genomics has the human genome map, which has been transformative. The ultimate goal is to create a resource that will enable better diagnosis and treatment of the mental and neurological disorders and diseases that affect more than one-fifth of America’s population, costing the U.S. It will be the first of its kind to compile and standardize massive datasets on the structure and function of mammal brains. The other part of the effort, led by the Allen Institute’s head of data and technology, Shoaib Mufti, in collaboration with AWS, will be to use this brain map to create the largest open source database of brain cell data in the world. One part of the brain knowledge platform work, led by Lein and a network of neuroscience researchers from 17 institutes across the world, will be to make a new map of the entire brain at cellular resolution.

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