"What should exist?"

"What should exist?" Those are the words that guide the philanthropy of Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen's Institute for Brain Science. One thing that Mr. Allen believes should exist is a genetic map of the murine brain, and he put up the $100 million to get that done. The searchable digital atlas of gene expression presents a comprehensive online platform for exploration of the brain at the cellular and molecular level. It is available on-line, for free, to anyone who wants to know which of the 21,000 genes in the mouse genome is activated in a particular area of the mouse brain. Pictured is a sample photomicrograph demonstrating the expression of a type of GABA receptor via in situ hybridization in one sagittal brain slice. In recognition of this and his other initiatives on behalf of brain science, Mr. Allen is being awarded the 2009 Public Leadership in Neurology Award by the American Academy of Neurology.