Any time someone concatenates the words "Paul Allen," "brain,"
and "science" in one sentence, two assumptions can safely be
made: What's being described will be expensive; what's being
described will be newsworthy. And so it comes as little surprise
that the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Brain Science
announced this week a world first: a highly detailed guide to
both the anatomy and the genes of the human brain that includes
1,000 anatomical landmarks backed by 100 million data points
measuring the strength of gene activity at each landmark. The
cost of its creation? $55 million. "Until now, a definitive map
of the human brain at this level of detail simply hasn't
existed," the nonprofit's chief executive, Allan Jones says in a
news release. "Understanding how our genes are used in our
brains will help scientists and the medical community better
understand and discover new treatments for the full spectrum of
brain diseases and disorders, from mental illness and drug
addiction to Alzheimer's and Parkinson'