The Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology is developing technology to monitor genomic changes in cells in real time, in turn showing cells' whole histories and the genetic causes of disease.

(Photo credit: miakievy / Getty Images) The adult human brain is made up of billions of neurons and glial cells. Understanding the diversity of these cells and their distinctive gene-regulatory mechanisms is crucial for determining how the brain works and, in turn, for developing treatments for neurologic disorders

(Photo credit: Charlotte Schubert) Researchers opened the doors Monday to the new Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology, a collaboration between the Allen Institute, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the University of Washington.

This comprehensive map laid the foundation for the next stage of investigations, such as scaling up efforts to chart nonhuman primates and human brains.

Researchers say this could lead to more targeted treatment approaches.

The Pacific Science Center is celebrating Brain Awareness Week with its BrainFest event on March 16.

In October 2023, an international group of scientists released an impressively detailed cell atlas of the human brain, published in 21 papers in the journals Science, Science Advances and Science Translational Medicine.

Mapping the billions of cells that make up the brain is a task mammoth enough to keep hundreds of researchers across continents busy for years. But it’s just one of several ambitious projects the Allen Institute is helping tackle.

Neuroscientists have unveiled their most comprehensive and detailed map of cell types across the entire mouse brain, delivering the latest results of a six-year-long scientific effort in which Seattle’s Allen Institute has played a leading role.