DrJeremy's Journal

Journal Entry for January 16, 2008 Mood

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

A study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and just published in the American Journal of Human Genetics has found a gene variation that may raise the risk of developing autism, particularly when this gene variant is inherited from an individual's mother. What this implies is that a child may be more vulnerable to developing autism when this variant exists and is passed on from the mother. For those who may be interested in the science of this gene, it is believed to be CNTNAP2 (which was verified by two different study populations in this study) and which is found on chromosome 7q35. And although a clear cause of autism does not currently exist, it is currently believed that both genetic and environmental factors play a role. Hopefully, this is one more important piece in the autism puzzle.

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Comments

great info thanks judyL

JudyL
My goodness I work with children with special needs,a lot of autism.This is a big issue .

nightstar
its great that the research grows further but is there a cure? see if there is nothing to do i wouldnt get tested.

roro1106
Ok then, so is this chromosome present in every egg a woman releases? Or is it present only in a percentage of eggs? If it is in every egg, is it then considered recessive? How do you get tested?
I always wondered why this happens to so many woman that take care of themselves while pregnant.

snsk
All interesting questions: In response to your last question: this does not imply anything about being recessive. The term recessive usually lends itself to the idea that both the mother AND father would have to pass the gene on to their child in order for their child to show characteristics of the illness/disease. Regarding testing for this gene specifically, no formal testing has yet been initiated.

DrJeremy
i've always said that the environment has a lot to do with this. Where Sam grew up in his early years, we were told not to eat the fish out of the ohio river because of the high content of mercury/ nice information

sambod
wow my friend has autistic ID twin boys and they are always in case studies but i wonder how different aussie research is compared to USA's or if they share their findings?

mumofthree
wow.. thanks.

bubsmum
Very interesting, thanks for sharing

jeanp
I wonder...my son is diagnosed Autism and I have extreme social issues myself. I was never socially adept...could this be a mild form of autism?

whichwayisup