To the Point

Can We Map the Brain?

John F. Kennedy's Race to the Moon led to a multi-billion-dollar industry. Mapping the Human Genome returned $140 for every $1 invested. Now President Obama wants to jump-start a "map" of the human brain, to find how each of 100 billion neurons relates to all of the others.

By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

John F. Kennedy's Race to the Moon led to a multi-billion-dollar industry. Mapping the Human Genome returned $140 for every $1 invested. Now President Obama wants to jump-start a "map" of the human brain, to find how each of 100 billion neurons relates to all of the others. It's a task so complex new tools would be needed with consequences nobody can predict. Would it mean understanding Alzheimer's or Parkinson's? Would it be the key to human consciousness — and the alarming ability to control how people think?

Warren Olney
former KCRW broadcaster
Caitlin Shamberg
KCRW
Katie Cooper
Producer, 'One year Later'
Sonya Geis
Senior Managing Editor
John Markoff
New York Times
Terrence Sejnowski
Salk Institute
Steven Pelech
Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation

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To the Point

Can We Map the Brain?

John F. Kennedy's Race to the Moon led to a multi-billion-dollar industry. Mapping the Human Genome returned $140 for every $1 invested. Now President Obama wants to jump-start a "map" of the human brain, to find how each of 100 billion neurons relates to all of the others.

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To the Point

Can We Map the Brain?

John F. Kennedy's Race to the Moon led to a multi-billion-dollar industry. Mapping the Human Genome returned $140 for every $1 invested. Now President Obama wants to jump-start a "map" of the human brain, to find how each of 100 billion neurons relates to all of the others.

Share