Very Interesting Article on Causes of Autism

[cyberseraphim]

www.theherald.co.uk/search/display.var.2390029.0.married_cousins_helping_study_of_autism.php

I haven't come across this angle before - looking at cultures where cousin marriage may happen more often than here.

A condition that has a genetic link - that is inherited (which autism may be - I don't know if this has been proved at all) may be more likely to surface if the parents are related. This would apply to all sorts of inherited conditions, not only autism.

I think the article is saying that this is useful for research into finding more out about the genetics of autism, as it is easier to find out which genes might be involved when you can study families with related parents.

I was interested in the reference to gene therapy for autism. I know there was some work done at Edinburgh University which seemed to suggest that that Retts Syndrome could be reversed in the brains of lab mice. I'm not looking for a cure for DS1 but it's good to know that there is research in the pipe line for future generations.

Yes. Gene therapy research may help lots of conditions in the future. I hope autism is one of them.

I don't think gene therapy will ever be a big thing in autism because autism in many cases is effected by multiple genes.

There are some cases caused by known single genes, so perhaps it could be employed there. However there are multiple single genes that appear to be affected.

That's an interesting article. I wonder if that is why early intervention can be so successful - the by passing the defective gene he talks about.