BICAN — BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network

Overview

The BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) is a large-scale NIH programme launched in 2021 to generate a comprehensive, multi-resolution cell atlas of the mammalian brain, producing reference maps of all cell types across human, non-human primate, and mouse brains. BICAN is the successor to the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN), which produced the first comprehensive mouse brain cell atlas. It integrates single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, spatial transcriptomics, epigenomics, and morphological data with whole-brain connectomics.

Key Outputs and Data

BICAN data is deposited across several specialised archives:

• NeMO Archive is the primary BICAN repository for single-cell and spatial genomics data.
• The Brain Image Library (BIL) hosts large-scale volumetric microscopy including cleared tissue and EM data.
• DANDI Archive holds electrophysiology data in NWB format.
• AWS Open Data provides cloud access to large-scale BICAN datasets.

Scientific Scope

BICAN spans several complementary projects:

• The Human Cell Atlas (brain component) generates human single-cell transcriptomics and epigenomics.
• Non-human primate atlases cover macaque and marmoset brains.
• The mouse brain atlas continues and expands the prior BICCN work.
• Spatial transcriptomics maps cell types to anatomical locations using MERFISH, Slide-seq, Visium, and related technologies.
• Connectomics produces electron microscopy volumetric reconstructions at synaptic resolution.

Connections

• Parent programme: NIH BRAIN Initiative
• Data archives: NeMO Archive, DANDI Archive, CELLxGENE

Resources

• https://braininitiative.nih.gov/brain-programs/cell-atlas
• https://nemoarchive.org (NeMO Archive — primary BICAN data)
• https://biccnportal.org (BICCN/BICAN data portal)
• https://portal.brain-map.org (Allen Brain Atlas reference)