
The Brain/MINDS project aimed at establishing the marmoset as a model organism for neurobiology and establishing the genetic and biochemical elements of their neural development
Currently, most work is conducted in rodents, primarily because there are a large range of genetic tools available. This is useful to an extent and has demonstrated key findings that appear to be relevant to most mammalian species. However, the human brain is quite different to the mouse brain. It has adapted to very different tasks required of mice compared to humans and therefore there is a knowledge gap to bridge in this area. In addition to this, examination of global gene expression in the brain has only truly become viable in the last 10 years. The same can also be said of the ability to analyse the development process at a biochemical level. Dr Tomomi Shimogori of the RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Japan, has been tackling these difficulties through her work on the molecular mechanisms of brain development. She has worked on rodents, but is now developing a model in the common marmoset based around the creation of a gene atlas. Working on the primate should help fill in the gap between rodent and human. Shimogori explains why the marmoset was chosen: 'One of the biggest advantages of using marmosets as a model animal is that many of its behaviours share similarities with human behaviours, and thus has potential for use in understanding the underlying mechanisms of human brain function and mental disease
Keywords: BIOCHEMICAL LEVEL; BRAIN DEVELOPMENT; COMMON MARMOSET; EXAMINATION OF GLOBAL GENE EXPRESSION; GENE ATLAS; MAMMALIAN SPECIE; MODEL ANIMAL; MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF BRAIN DEVELOPMENT; UNDERLYING MECHANISMS OF HUMAN BRAIN FUNCTION AND MENTAL DISEASE; VISUAL STIMULI
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: June 1, 2018
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