More than half the genes of the human genome have roles in the unique functions performed by the brain and central nervous system. With the Human Genome Project nominally complete and companion projects close to providing the encyclopaedia of genes for other mammals, the race now begins to determine the function of genes involved in brain function and develop strategies for using this knowledge to treat neurological diseases. Neurogenomics is the new field of elucidating genomic function in the brain.
"The neurosciences have remained a leading growth area of biomedical research for more than 30 years, attracting scientists to the greatest challenge in biology, the understanding of the functions, capacities and diseases of the brain," according to Warren G. Young director of neuropharmacology computing at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. His Scripps colleague Floyd E. Bloom, chairman of the department of neuropharmacology agrees noting, "Neuroscience offers the ...
