{"id":1425,"date":"2026-06-03T10:45:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T10:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425"},"modified":"2026-06-03T10:45:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T10:45:38","slug":"a-science-powerhouse-bets-on-genetic-therapy-to-beat-brain-disorders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425","title":{"rendered":"A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Scientists who’ve spent decades learning how the brain works say they’re now ready to start fixing it when it breaks.<\/p>

Read more Ukrainian drones strike a St. Petersburg oil terminal ahead of Putin visit<\/a><\/p>

That’s the premise of the Brain Health accelerator, a collaborative effort launched by the Allen Institute in Seattle, which has become a major player in brain research.<\/p>

\n
\n\n
\n
\"Scientists<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Shots – Health News <\/h3>\n

Scientists restore brain cells impaired by a rare genetic disorder<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The initiative includes plans to develop new genetic therapies \u2014 a term that includes gene editing as well as traditional gene therapy \u2014 for diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, and Huntington’s.<\/p>

“The latest genetic treatments allow scientists to control the activity of particular genes,” says Ed Lein, who directs the institute’s brain health programs. “That opens up the possibility for very specific precision therapies for brain disorders.”<\/p>

The accelerator is an outgrowth of the BRAIN Initiative, an ambitious research program unveiled by President Obama in 2013. The goal of this public-private partnership was to create tools that would allow scientists to see the brain’s inner workings, and, eventually, to develop treatments.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n
\n
\"June<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Science <\/h3>\n

Studying these young Alzheimer’s patients led to breakthroughs. Trump cut the funding<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

But the effort has progressed far faster than many scientists expected.<\/p>

“I am shocked at how far we’ve come in the last 10, 12 years,” says John Ngai, a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health who directs the BRAIN Initiative. “It’s just been beyond my wildest imagination \u2014 and I’ve been accused of having a pretty good imagination.”<\/p>

From mice to humans<\/h3>

The Allen Institute’s Brain Health accelerator is attracting a range of scientists intent on translating their knowledge about the brain into treatments for its disorders.<\/p>

\n
\n\n
\n
\"This<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Your Health <\/h3>\n

Even healthy brains decline with age. Here’s what you can do<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Jeff Carroll, for example, was a teenager when he learned that his mother had Huntington’s Disease, a fatal, inherited disorder that destroys brain cells.<\/p>

“The whole reason I’m in science started with this frustration with not being able to understand what was happening with my mom,” he says.<\/p>

Carroll eventually learned that he, too, carried the Huntington’s gene.<\/p>

He spent years at the University of Washington studying mice with the condition, which causes nerve cells to produce toxic levels of a certain protein.<\/p>

To Carroll, the solution seemed obvious: “Since we know that all the bad stuff in Huntington’s comes from this one gene \u2026 let’s get rid of that gene.”<\/p>

But finding a way to do that was beyond the reach of his own relatively small lab at a university. So Carroll joined the accelerator effort.<\/p>

Read more The White House\u2019s new site about \u2018aliens\u2019 has nothing to do with UFOs<\/a><\/p>\n

“It’s difficult to do the scale of research that you need with a team of five or six or even 10 people,” he says. “The hundreds of people they have here at the Allen Institute [allow for] an entirely different approach to science.”<\/p>

And one of the first targets for that approach will be Huntington’s disease.<\/p>

Carroll says he’s optimistic.<\/p>

He notes that genetic therapies have already had success treating at least one nerve disorder, a rare genetic condition called spinal muscular atrophy. It’s caused by a gene mutation that leads to the death of motor neurons in the spinal cord.<\/p>

“Every kid with this horrible mutation died when they were like 18 months [old],” Carroll says, “and now they’re going to high school. So things that were unimaginable can change.”<\/p>

Carroll says his goal is to help accelerate that change.<\/p>

Big science, shared<\/h3>

The Allen Institute was founded in 2003 by the late Paul Allen of Microsoft fame, and his younger sister, Jody Allen.<\/p>

Its goal was to speed up science research. And it has done so by developing technologies that allow scientists to rapidly characterize and map millions of cells.<\/p>

“We now have a complete description of the types of cells that make up the brain, and also the genetic underpinnings of their properties,” Lein says. “This foundation then lets you study disease.”<\/p>

Allen scientists have already begun studying how Alzheimer’s disease changes nerve cells in the brain.<\/p>

“It affects very specific types of neurons that are lost early in the disease and then over the course of the disease,” Lein says.<\/p>

Genetic therapies designed to protect these neurons might delay or prevent symptoms, he says. Similar approaches might also work to preserve the neurons affected by Parkinson’s or ALS.<\/p>

Ultimately, though, the Allen Institute may not be the place that develops these therapies. Its policy of making its databases available to anyone means that scientists around the globe can help look for answers.<\/p>

Read more The world is connected by copper. It\u2019s a huge target for thieves<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Allen Institute in Seattle says scientists have now learned enough about how the brain works to start fixing it when it breaks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[440,439,441],"class_list":["post-1425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-alzheimers","tag-brain-initiative","tag-huntingtons-disease"],"yoast_head":"\nA science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders - Best USA Movers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders - Best USA Movers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Allen Institute in Seattle says scientists have now learned enough about how the brain works to start fixing it when it breaks.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best USA Movers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-03T10:45:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a308b55a6cb6065fc73aee8a36755dc7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"99\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3f4fef4452a41b72c331a70422221f40\"},\"headline\":\"A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-03T10:45:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425\"},\"wordCount\":822,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ad2761823e713ea5a1817ca6508fcac0-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alzheimer's\",\"BRAIN initiative\",\"Huntington's disease\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425\",\"name\":\"A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders - Best USA Movers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ad2761823e713ea5a1817ca6508fcac0-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-03T10:45:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3f4fef4452a41b72c331a70422221f40\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ad2761823e713ea5a1817ca6508fcac0-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ad2761823e713ea5a1817ca6508fcac0-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=1425#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Best USA Movers\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3f4fef4452a41b72c331a70422221f40\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders - Best USA Movers","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders - Best USA Movers","og_description":"The Allen Institute in Seattle says scientists have now learned enough about how the brain works to start fixing it when it breaks.","og_url":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425","og_site_name":"Best USA Movers","article_published_time":"2026-06-03T10:45:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":100,"height":99,"url":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a308b55a6cb6065fc73aee8a36755dc7.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3f4fef4452a41b72c331a70422221f40"},"headline":"A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders","datePublished":"2026-06-03T10:45:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425"},"wordCount":822,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ad2761823e713ea5a1817ca6508fcac0-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Alzheimer's","BRAIN initiative","Huntington's disease"],"articleSection":["Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425","url":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425","name":"A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders - Best USA Movers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ad2761823e713ea5a1817ca6508fcac0-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-03T10:45:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3f4fef4452a41b72c331a70422221f40"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ad2761823e713ea5a1817ca6508fcac0-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ad2761823e713ea5a1817ca6508fcac0-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=1425#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/","name":"Best USA Movers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3f4fef4452a41b72c331a70422221f40","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/bestusamoverss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}