Sacha B. Nelson: 2011 Allen Institute for Brain Science Symposium

Sacha B. Nelson, Brandeis University "Defining the mammalian neurome"

The neurome is to neurons as the genome is to genes; that is, defining the mammalian neurome involves defining the set of all neural cell types. Like Nathaniel Heintz and Markus Meister, Dr. Nelson sees the need to identify individual cell types in order to distinguish if and how cells are different on a molecular level. Dr. Nelson classifies cell types by both phenotype, including morphology and intrinsic properties, as well as using a genomic strategy, via expression patterns. The difficulties in identifying unique cell types, he pointed out, include the fact that expression changes over development, there is regional specialization in properties such as intrinsic firing patterns which are not reflected in the transcriptome, and there is a wealth of biology that occurs after transcription including translation and post-translation. Dr. Nelson sees a relatively straightforward connection between behavior and disease such that these arise from neural circuits, which arise from neural cell types, which arise from neural genes; he aims to define the set of all cell types in the mammalian brain.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Sacha B. Nelson
• Allen Institute
• Bandeis
• neurome
• neurogenetics
• neuroscience
• genetics
• genome
• gene expression
• animal model
• cell types
• transcriptome
• genetic drivers
• cellular phenotypes