Rising Star: Sergiu Pasca, scientist at play
Sergiu Pasca was among the first to model autism with neurons from affected individuals, a feat that could reveal the biochemical roots of some forms of autism.
Sergiu Pasca was among the first to model autism with neurons from affected individuals, a feat that could reveal the biochemical roots of some forms of autism.
Neurologist Lawrence Reiter is growing neurons from the discarded teeth of children with neurological syndromes. Here he describes how dental pulp may help researchers find the genes and pathways that underlie autism symptoms.
An artificial-intelligence algorithm designed to analyze behavior has learned to recognize six genetic disorders associated with autism, according to a report published 11 February in Molecular Autism. The algorithm could be used to hone the search for autism’s genetic underpinnings.
Carrying a duplication of the 22q11.2 chromosomal region may protect against schizophrenia, suggests a study published 12 November in Molecular Psychiatry. This is the first evidence of a genetic region that lowers the risk of a disorder rather than increases it.
Deletion of a gene in 22q11.2, a chromosomal region linked to autism and schizophrenia, leads to small head size in mice, according to research presented Saturday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego. Mice with a large deletion in this region show disrupted brain connections, and struggle with learning and memory.
An enzyme that may keep RNA tangle-free as it’s translated into protein is missing in some people with schizophrenia and learning difficulties. The enzyme also cooperates with the protein missing in fragile X syndrome to bind RNA, suggesting a role in protein synthesis. That’s the upshot from two studies published in the September Nature Neuroscience.
The same genetic region that is missing in people with Williams syndrome is likely to be duplicated in some people with schizophrenia, according to a study published 17 July in Biological Psychiatry.
Duplications and deletions of large chromosomal regions are associated with intellectual disability, cognitive deficits and a low likelihood of having children, according to a population-wide study in Iceland. The results were presented Monday at a conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A new study fans the flames of a link between autism and schizophrenia, finding that children with autism are at a three-fold greater risk of psychotic episodes in their teen years than their typically developing peers.
Chromosomal abnormalities may be more prevalent in individuals with a rare form of childhood-onset schizophrenia than in those with the classic presentation of the disorder, according to a study published 21 May in Molecular Psychiatry.