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Yorktown Heights, NY and Lausanne, Switzerland, June 6, 2005 – IBM and The Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) are today announcing a major joint research initiative – nicknamed the Blue Brain Project – to take brain research to a new level.
Over the next two years scientists from both organizations will work together using the huge computational capacity of IBM’s eServer Blue Gene supercomputer to create a detailed model of the circuitry in the neocortex – the largest and most complex part of the human brain. By expanding the project to model other areas of the brain, scientists hope to eventually build an accurate, computer-based model of the entire brain.
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Modeling the brain
EPFL has already generated exciting results through wet lab experiments. Using the huge computational capacity of IBM's eServer Blue Gene, researchers from IBM and EPFL will be able to create a detailed model of the circuitry in the neocortex – the largest and most complex part of the human brain. (images provided by EPFL).
 A Forest of Neurons - A dye is injected into each neuron and then developed in order to reveal the morphology. This image shows a minute fraction of the cells and connections within the microcircuitry of the neocortex [ More picture options ] [ Get permission to re-use ]  Neurons in a Column - A view of the neocortical microcircuit emphasising the downward axons of the pyramidal neurons which pass information out of the neocortex and which make up 80% of the neurons in the neocortex [ More picture options ] [ Get permission to re-use ]  Three Golden Columns - The neocortex is organised into thousands of columns of neurons. Each column has a diameter of 0.5mm and contains 10,000 neurons. The neocortex is also organised into 6 layers and the golden neurons shown are the large output pyramidal neurons in the fifth layer. In the background are other neurons making up the neocortical column. [ More picture options ] [ Get permission to re-use ]  The Three Pyramids - Three stained pyramidal neurons. These neurons stand nearly 2mm high and receive over 10,000 inputs from other neurons which they process in their complex dendritic arbors using active regenerative mechanisms. [ More picture options ] [ Get permission to re-use ]
Blue Gene Science Program
IBM has a team of life sciences researchers at the T.J. Watson Research Center developing Blue Matter - the application software used to run simulations of protein dynamics on the Blue Gene hardware.
 G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCR) in a membrane environment
The Blue Gene Science team at the IBM T.J. Watson Research selected a GPCR for their initial work on Blue Gene/L because these membrane proteins represent more than half the current drug targets and a market of tens of billions of dollars annually. Examples of diseases currently treated with drugs that target GPCRs: congestive heart failure, hypertension, stroke, cancer, ulcers, allergies, asthma, anxiety, psychosis, migraines, Parkinson's disease (source: http://www.predixpharm.com/market_table.htm) [ More picture options ] [ Get permission to re-use ]  Lipids critical to cell division and fusion
Lipids provide the environment for membrane proteins that enable critical functions including cell signaling and cell division. Studying lipids is crucial to understanding diseases related to membrane proteins, which include most of the major diseases, including cancer, congestive heart failure and Parkinson’s disease. One third of all proteins in the human body -- and half of all drug targets -- are membrane proteins. [ More picture options ] [ Get permission to re-use ]  Omega-3 Fatty acids and cholesterol
Omega-3 fatty acids and cholesterol are as important to diet and health as they are for understanding disease. They play essential roles in many of the most critical processes in biology. To better enable studies of how membrane proteins are affected by the membrane environment, the Blue Gene science team investigated a mixture of cholesterol and omega-3 fatty acids via atomic-level simulation with Blue Matter. These studies could provide new insights into understanding why cholesterol has a stiffening effect on cell membranes. [ More picture options ] [ Get permission to re-use ]  Rhodopsin - Membrane Protein
The Blue Gene Science team at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center selected membrane proteins for their initial work on Blue Gene/L because membrane processes enable cell signal detection, as well as ion and nutrient transport, and are the drug targets of the most of the world's major diseases. More than half the drug targets pursued by pharmaceutical companies are related to membrane-bound proteins. Diseases that are treated with drugs that target membrane proteins include: congestive heart failure, hypertension, stroke, cancer, ulcers, allergies, asthma, anxiety, psychosis, migraines and Parkinson's disease. [ More picture options ] [ Watch Video ] [ Get permission to re-use ]
A vision of the future
Artist's rendition of what the final IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer will look like installation at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab is complete later this year.
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