Genes Implicate Autism

Once again more research is being done on mice. Autism individuals are 25% more likely to have larger brains than normal. They have been researching on the PTEN and the serotonin transporter genes. Mutations in these two genes have been recognized in the potential link with autism. Very good researchers. Hope that it will take us farther into the research of a disease that affects so many. You may read up on the article here. Here are the words from Damon T. Page. Hope that you don't mind. Sometimes they can just explain it better. LOL

"We found that two genetic risk factors for ASDs act cooperatively in mice to influence brain size and social behavior, both of which are altered in ASDs," lead investigator Damon T. Page, a postdoctoral fellow at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, said in an MIT news release.

"Our results provide evidence that the severity of autistic symptoms may be the product of variations in DNA in multiple locations in the genome," Page added.