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 The research at Oregon Health and Science University has the
potential to create a screening tool for parents of autistic
children, by helping them to determine if future offspring are
likely also to develop the disorder, said co-author Brian O'Roak,
assistant professor of molecular and medical genetics at OHSU's
medical school.
The genes identified by O'Roak's team are the result of mutations
not inherited from either parent, and they appear to contribute to
about one in four male autism diagnoses and just under half of all
female diagnoses, he said on Friday.
About one U.S. child is diagnosed with autism out of every 70 born.
When parents already have one autistic child, however, there is an
approximately one-in-20 chance that their next baby will also be
diagnosed with the disorder, according to the National Institutes of
Health.
These 27 genes do not appear to cause autism in everyone with the
mutation, O'Roak said, cautioning against the use of the research in
pre-natal screening.
But over time, he added, the genes the team of researchers
identified could allow for earlier diagnoses in some children, and
they could ultimately guide targeted genetic treatment of autism.
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The study of 2,500 families was not large enough to identify every
gene that may contribute to autism, however, O'Roak said.
"We believe there are 400 genes involved in the disorder," he said.
"We need to get 10,000 to 20,000 kids into a study to validate
that."
(Reporting by Courtney Sherwood; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Eric
Beech)
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