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Library Categories > Genetics > Autism and a Link to Brain Development

 
Library Item Name:

Autism and a Link to Brain Development 		   
Summary Statement:

It's been an amazing year for discoveries about autism and genes-and it's only July. The latest news: Some genes involved in the disorder may affect the brain's ability to develop in response to experience, a key aspect of learning.

That follows the report in January that scientists with the Boston-based Autism Consortium had found a genetic variation on chromosome 16 shared by 1 percent of people with autism. In March, researchers reported that about 15 percent of autism cases result from random spontaneous mutations that are unique to each person, rather than an inherited "disease gene."

Now it appears that those random mutations may mess up the wiring at a critical time when experience helps shape the developing brain. This latest bit comes from researchers at Harvard University, who analyzed the genes of 88 Middle Eastern families in which cousins had married. Intermarriage increases the odds that rare mutations will occur and be passed on, making patterns easier to find. The researchers' results, published in Science, are not a slam dunk, but they do provide more evidence that gene-hunting scientists are on the right track.
Tags:

brain development,  genetics
Submission Date:

07/13/2008by: shannonj
Current rating:


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