World’s First Genome-Wide Spinal Cord Atlas Unveiled; Co-Funded by The ALS Association

The ALS Association has joined a funding consortium of non-profit and private organizations to fund the Allen Spinal Cord Atlas, which was unveiled as the world’s first genome-wide map of the mouse spinal cord, key to the study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other diseases, disorders and traumatic injuries of the spinal cord.

Created by the Seattle, Wash.-based Allen Institute for Brain Science, the atlas enables researchers to access the free online data to advance their research surrounding these conditions.

“The atlas enables scientists to determine the location of genes and their expression patterns at the cellular level in the spinal cord,” said Lucie Bruijn, Ph.D., science director and vice president of The Association. “This will provide an important reference when trying to understand gene changes and how these are linked to disease in mouse models of ALS.”