A group of Canadian researchers have found a link between the ocurance of autism spectrum disorder and DNA abnormalities. This research was recently published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. This could lead to earlier diagnostics. Also, according to the findings, these abnormalities were not passed down from the parents:
Similar deletions and duplications of genes were not detected in parents of the children, meaning they were not inherited, said Scherer, director of the Centre for Applied Genomics at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. The missing or extra genes would have arisen spontaneously in the children, likely at conception or in early fetal growth.
Also, thanks to this research, early detection mechanisms are likely to be developed:
Scherer said hospital autism clinics should begin testing children with a suspected case of the disorder for any of these genetic aberrations as early in childhood as possible. Sick Kids is in the process of developing such a test program in its autism clinic.
A prenatal test could also be developed to look for these genetic changes, he said.
Source [The Canadian Press]
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