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Two leading neurological charities have announced funding of £ 3 million for the largest brain bank in Europe to boost research on MS and Parkinson's disease.
MS Society and Parkinson's UK Funds to Create New Digital Brain Bank, Ambitious Virtual Reality Initiative and New Research Projects to Help Researchers End Multiple Sclerosis plaques (MS) and Parkinson's disease.
The new digital brain bank, with a virtual reality interface, will be based at the MS and Parkinson tissue bank at Imperial College London. It will enable scientists around the world to virtually access the brains, which will make research more efficient and effective.
Charities will continue to fund existing tissue bank infrastructure – already the largest spinal cord, brain and Parkinson's tissue depot in Europe – which has shared more than 100,000 samples with scientists since it opened 20 years ago – more than 700 research projects around the world.
Together, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease affect more than 248,000 people in the UK. Current treatments do not stop, slow down or reverse one or the other condition.
Sharing and storing tissue samples in this way means that each brain can be used more widely, for the benefit of future projects as well as ongoing projects.
The digital brain bank will also feature an interactive 3D section that will allow people to explore the virtual brain. Virtual tours will enable potential donors to understand the purpose of the tissue bank, how it works, and the future of the tissue once it is given, helping them to make informed decisions.
The two badociations will each contribute £ 1,534,543 over five years to this project and other Tissue Bank projects, including work to determine how a person's genetic makeup affects the development of their MS or Parkinson's disease. This involves linking tissue samples to genetic information so that researchers have a more complete picture of the donor behind each sample.
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