The Allen Institute for Brain Science has taken a groundbreaking step into deciphering the mysteries of the spinal cord by publishing the world's first genome-wide map of the mouse spinal cord. The data is available online as of July 17.

Spinal cord injuries, which are triggered by any type of trauma to the spinal column, cause victims the loss of feeling in parts of the body, and sometimes they even lead to full body paralysis.

Researchers have been longtime preoccupied with gathering more data on the genes that control the functions of the spinal cord, and the Allen Spinal Cord Atlas will prove to be an invaluable resource by cutting the time of data collection, which in some cases might take months or years.

The Atlas "will help researchers advance their work in quantum leaps, perhaps helping discover how to make spinal cord patients become mobile enough to make leaps of their own," said Jane Roskams, Ph.D., Associate professor, Brain Research Center & iCord at the University of British Columbia.

Mice and humans present striking similarities, as they share 90 percent of genes. It is widely known that mice have been one of the best-established models to study human diseases and to advance new scientific methods into groundbreaking treatments for various diseases and disorders.

The Atlas offers data on approximately 2,000 genes, but new information will continuously be added until the project is completed in early 2009, the Allen Institute for Brain Science revealed. According to their estimations, the atlas will prove useful to hundreds of users from universities, research institutes, pharmaceutical companies and government organizations.

Upon completion, the Atlas will cover data on 20,000 genes, including from youth and adult developmental stages, as well as anatomical reference sections and data on the full length of the spinal cord.

In the marking are also the Allen Human Brain Atlas, which will provide insight into gene expression in the human brain, and the Allen Developing Mouse Brain Atlas, with data on gene activity across several stages of development, from birth to adulthood.