There is much in the human brain that remains a mystery. We don't know exactly how the brain works or how it causes our different behaviors. We also have little knowledge of how the brain develops in the fertilized egg. Sten Linnarsson's research team has previously studied brain development in mice.

- Now we are studying the development of the human brain instead, which is much more difficult. But with the help of new methods, we can take out a cell and measure its gene activity. Then we try to understand how the cells change and mature," he says.

The aim is to create a mathematical model that can predict changes in gene activity. If scientists can find out what happens normal cases, they can also learn to predict the consequences of any abnormalities. Autism and schizophrenia are diseases that are thought to be linked abnormal changes associated with brain development.

- "What we are working on most now is mapping normal development. We need a detailed map of the brain to then be able to move on and understand what goes wrong in different forms of disease progression," says Sten Linnarsson.

Being awarded ten million SEK from the Torsten Söderberg Foundation will be of great importance for future initiatives.

- This is the best kind of grant, giving us great freedom to decide the direction of our research. One of the things we want to do in the future is to use microscopy to study a small section, a piece of tissue, from the brain and follow how the cells mature, move and interact with each other over time. To do this, we need specialized equipment that we don't have today.

Sten Linnarsson is Professor of Molecular Systems Biology at Karolinska Institutet. He received his doctorate in 2001. In 2015 he received the Erik K Fernström Prize. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Nobel Assembly for the Medicine Prize at Karolinska Institutet.