New autism genes discovered
Irish researchers have discovered new autism genes which will help in the future development of treatments for the condition, it emerged yesterday.
The autism genes were discovered by researchers at Trinity College Dublin and UCD as part of the Global Autism Genome Project, involving 50 institutions worldwide.
The findings, to be published in the journal 'Nature' today, involved the recruitment of a large number of families here and around the world.
Researchers analysed genetic variations of over 1,000 individuals with autism and related disorders, their parents, and a control sample of 1,300 individuals without autism.
The researchers reported that individuals with autism have sub-microscopic sections of DNA, that occur more often (duplications) or less often (deletions), called copy number variants (CNV) in their genomes.
These are also frequently found in individuals without autism, but in autism they are more likely to disrupt certain genes and, in particular, those previously reported to be associated with autism or intellectual disabilities.
Some of these CNVs appear to be inherited, while others are new.
Trinity researcher Dr Louise Gallagher said: "This work significantly extends our knowledge of the genes involved in autism, leading to new insights into underlying biology."
Prof Michael Gill of the Irish Autism Research Group added: "With further research work, these and other recent findings have very real potential to lead to the development of novel interventions and treatments for these disorders".
The findings further support the consensus that autism is caused, in part, by "rare variants" or genetic changes found in less than 1pc of the population.
- Eilish O'Regan
Irish Independent
