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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: gene expression

August 2011

Autism studies that neglect subgroups may skew results

by  /  11 August 2011

Autism studies tend to focus on one part of the spectrum, often excluding those who also have other conditions such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder or intellectual disability. The result, some experts say, is piecemeal findings that don’t fit together to generate a whole picture.

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Clinical research: Drug increases communication while rats play

by  /  5 August 2011

Giving GLYX-13, a drug that targets an autism-associated brain pathway, to rats bred to be less social increases how much they communicate while playing.

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X-linked variants may up autism, schizophrenia risk

by  /  3 August 2011

The first study to sequence more than 100 genes on the X chromosome in people with autism or schizophrenia has turned up some promising leads.

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July 2011

Genetics: Neurexin 1 variant affects volume of healthy brains

by  /  29 July 2011

A variant of neurexin 1, a gene linked to both autism and schizophrenia, is associated with less brain matter than normal in healthy individuals, according to a study published 8 June in PLoS ONE.

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Genetics: Small duplications, deletions implicated in autism

by  /  20 July 2011

Small duplications and deletions of chromosomal regions that include genes needed for the development of the nervous system are more common in individuals with autism than in controls, according to a study published in the June issue of the European Journal of Human Genetics.

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Experts critique statistics, conclusion of autism twin study

by  /  14 July 2011

A new study of twins proposes the controversial claim that environmental influences during early development are just as, if not more, important than genetics. But the findings are not substantially different from those of previous twin studies, however, and some experts are critical of the study’s statistics.

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Clinical research: Blood test could recommend drug treatment

by  /  13 July 2011

Children who express a subset of genes — including one located in the autism-associated chromosomal region 16p11.2 — at higher or lower levels than normal benefit from treatment with the antipsychotic drug risperidone, according to a study published 7 June in the Pharmacogenomics Journal.

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Genetics: FOXP2 important for early brain development

by  /  8 July 2011

FOXP2, a gene tied to autism and language disorders, is needed for proper wiring of the developing brain, according to a study published 7 July in PLoS Genetics.

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Ambitious venture aims to create a mouse for every gene

by  /  7 July 2011

A multi-site collaborative venture between the U.S., Canada and Europe has created nearly 17,000 mouse embryonic stem cell lines, each lacking one of the genes in the mouse genome.

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Genetics: Autism samples show altered gene expression in blood

by  /  5 July 2011

Blood cells from individuals who have autism produce less-than-normal amounts of SHANK3 and NLGN3 proteins, according to a study published 26 May in Molecular Autism.

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