Reprint: Possible Genetic Link to Autism Identified

When I read this article this morning, I had mixed emotions.  Finally, possibly, scientists are making progress in the cause of Autism and its spectrum disorders.  But, the fact still remains that there are many children born with autism and the rate is much higher today than ever.  I understand how parents and families struggle when they find out that their child has autism or a cousin disorder.  I understand completely how children with Aspergers struggle to fit in with their peers and how cruel those peers can be.  I understand completely how one of these children feels when his girlfriend breaks up with him because he doesn't have aspirations of going to college to get a degree because he fears that he will be ridiculed at college like he was in middle school and college.  I understand, because I have cried and worried over him with his parents.  I understand, because I have been there for him when he has been close to the brink of giving up because the world is so confusing to him.  I understand, because I have a close family member that has been diagnosed with Aspergers and close friends that have a mute autistic son.  I have lived their struggles with them from the outside looking in.  I know how it has affected their families and the future of their children.  I know how it has affected me in my own classroom as I struggle to reach out and teach to these children.  I commend these scientists for this study and hope that it leads to more information on how to control or at least give us knowledge on how to prevent autism.

Health Day News

Possible Genetic Link to Autism Identified

In boys, the gene variation was associated with about a 15% increased risk, study finds.

By Robert Preidt, Health Day News

FRIDAY, Nov. 4, 2011 (Health Day News) —A gene variation associated with an increased risk of autism in boys has been identified by scientists.

Boys are three to four times more likely than girls to be affected by autism.

In this study, U.S. researchers analyzed genomic data from more than 3,000 children with autism and their family members, as well as children without autism.

The results showed a link between a variation in the gene for transducin beta-like 1X-linked (TBL1X) and an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in boys. TBL1X is part of the Wnt-signaling pathway involved in the system that controls embryonic neurological development and the maintenance of brain function in adults.

The study is published in the Nov. 3 online edition of the journal Molecular Autism.

"The [variation] in TBL1X is associated with an increase in risk for ASD of about 15 percent. This could reflect either an unidentified rare mutation (or mutations), which has large impact, or a more common change with a more subtle effect, on the development of ASD," study leader Eden Martin, of the Hussman Institute for Human Genomics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said in a journal news release.

"Further study of TBL1X will help us to pinpoint the DNA changes involved and help us to understand exactly how these changes and the Wnt-signaling pathway is involved in ASD," Martin added.

Autism affects about one in 110 children and can cause problems in language, communication and understanding other people's emotional cues.

Last Updated: 11/04/2011