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stories from the front lines of discovery
From scientific breakthroughs to new open‑source tools, the Allen Institute’s work is reshaping how science is done—and who it’s for. Explore the latest news, stories, and highlights from across our research, partnerships, and open science efforts.
Mind trip: How psilocybin changes the brain
New research may help improve psychedelic therapy for neuropsychiatric disorders

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Sorting neurons by their shape and activity to understand the elements making up the brain
To understand our brains, scientists need to know their components. This theme underlies a growing effort in neuroscience to define the different building blocks of the brain — its cells.
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A model for how the brain stays in sync
In the brain, connections are key. A mouse brain contains around a billion synapses, or physical connections between neurons, and our own brains house approximately 100 trillion.
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Allen Institute for Cell Science Debuts First Comprehensive View of Human Cell Division
The data-driven model sheds new light on mitosis, a critical process for human cells and a pivotal driver of cancer
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Out of Balance | Alyssa’s life with Crohn’s disease
Ever since Alyssa Clements can remember, she’s wanted to be a doctor. Her father is a chiropractor in south New Jersey, and his business partner was...
immunology
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New Cell Registry enables exploration of multiple brain cell type datasets
The Allen Institute for Brain Science, a division of the Allen Institute, has debuted a new data exploration tool for brain cell type data.
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How do living creatures take shape?
Think of the shape of life. Living creatures have forms ranging from a tiny rod-shaped bacterium, to a wrinkled, tusked behemoth of an elephant, to a...
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Q&A: A former experimental psychologist with a passion for data governance
Scientists everywhere are struggling with data. Paul Meijer, Ph.D., Director of Software Development at the newly launched Allen Institute for...
immunology
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Gene drives get a precision upgrade
Gene drives, a method to “drive” a new gene through a population in a way that bypasses the natural order of inheritance, were first developed...
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A new technique to make beating human heart cells glow
Allen Institute for Cell Science researchers have developed a new technique that will enable better understanding of human heart muscle cells.
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Data Stories | Addiction & the visual system
Researcher Randy Ellis studies computational neuroscience and addiction. Ellis uses the Allen Brain Observatory dataset in his work to find new ways...
brain science
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Biologists Get $100 Million From Billionaire Paul Allen To Investigate Cells
With a gift of $100 million from billionaire philanthropist Paul G. Allen, scientists will embark on an effort to understand how cells work and how they malfunction in disease. Leaders of this new endeavor announced the launch of the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Cell Science today at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in Philadelphia.
Billionaire Paul Allen donates $100m to new ‘industrial scale’ effort to understand human cells
Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen is donating $100 million of his fortune to launch what he calls an “industrial-scale” effort to understand the basic building block of all living things: the cell.
Microsoft mogul to create new cell science center
Science - Eleven years after he established an institute dedicated to mapping the brain, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is announcing a sequel: the Allen Institute for Cell Science. Just like its predecessor, the new institute will be seeded with $100 million from Allen himself; will embrace big-team science, bringing together cell biologists, mathematicians, computational biologists, and other specialists; and will seek to decipher a world whose complexity is still largely uncharted.

