A new approach to investigating hard-to-find chromosomal
abnormalities has identified 33 genes associated with autism and related disorders, 22 for the first time.
Several of these genes also appear to be altered in different ways in
individuals with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, symptoms
of which may begin in adolescence or adulthood. Results of the study by a
multi-institutional research team will appear in the April 27 issue of
Cell and have been released online.
"By sequencing the genomes of a group of children with
neurodevelopmental abnormalities, including autism, who were also known
to have abnormal chromosomes, we identified the precise points where the
DNA strands are disrupted and segments exchanged within or between
chromosomes. As a result, we were able to discover a series of genes
that have a strong individual impact on these disorders," says James
Gusella, PhD, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for
Human Genetic Research (MGH CHGR) and senior author of the Cell paper.
"We also found that many of these genes play a role in diverse clinical
situations -- from severe intellectual disability to adult-onset
schizophrenia -- leading to the conclusion that these genes are very
sensitive to even subtle perturbations."
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