Scientists will today unveil the first genome-wide map of the spinal cord of the mouse, a move experts say will accelerate research - and point to potential treatments - in human spinal cord diseases.
The map, dubbed the Allen Spinal Cord Atlas, charts the genetic activity within the mouse spinal cord and will help researchers understand various diseases and disorders, including ALS, multiple sclerosis, paralysis and other spinal cord injuries.
Experts say it will shed light on how the spinal cord works, something scientists do not yet completely understand, and will likely lead to new therapies.
"It's the first time that somebody has explored the expression of particular genes within the spinal cord," said Christine Vande Velde, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Montreal who focuses on the underpinnings of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
"Many people focus on the brain, but that's very different from the spinal cord," Vande Velde said.
"This (map) provides us with a new avenue to look at the type of genes unique to motor neurons and will provide targets for us to explore in the future."
The map, to be unveiled today at a press conference in Washington, D.C., was created at the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Brain Science, a non-profit research organization launched in 2003 by Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft Corporation.
In 2006, the institute released a genome-wide, three-dimensional map of gene expression in the adult mouse brain.
Studying mice is the primary way researchers learn about spinal cord diseases.
That's why it was important to come up with a basic map of all the different genes, cells and pathways in the rodent's complete spinal cord, said Dr. Jane Roskams, the project's scientific advisor and associate professor of neuroscience at the Brain Research Centre at the University of British Columbia.
"Mice and rats are our main model for research," she said. "That's where potential therapies will first be developed."
Roskams, who will be part of the official launch today, said the map was more than 18 months in the making and cost roughly $3 million.
The baseline data generated from the map will be most valuable to new researchers in the field because it will provide them with a starting point for their investigations, something that would usually take months or years to develop.
"Their legwork will be decreased considerably by using this," she said.
"It's like a little (Global Positioning System) that tells you where you are in the spinal cord and where you need to go."
All of the data will be publicly available for free online, with the first set released by mid-July and the entire map by 2009.
Vande Velde, who plans to use the map immediately in her research, said the large-scale project could not be done by individual scientists or even universities.
"This is a giant undertaking," she said.
"It's not something the average academic lab can do. It's something really unique."
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