Canadian Study Uncovers DNA Changes In People With Autism Spectrum Disorders

A study co-led by Dr. Stephen Scherer, a molecular genetics researcher at the University of Toronto has uncovered genetic changes with people with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The Autism Genome Project, saw 120 scientists in 12 countries work collaboratively to identify over 100 different autism-related genes.

Starting in 2002, the project involved researchers and experts from around the world sharing their data, samples and expertise with the aim of identifying genetic susceptibility of autism spectrum disorders.

The DNA of 1000 autistic people and 1300 people without autism spectrum disorder were compared. The findings of the study have revealed that as so many different genes are autism-related, this could explain why individuals with autism display different symptoms.

Another revelation of the study was that people with autism spectrum disorder either lack or have extra copies of multiple genes vital for the both normal development and function of the brain.

The results will help health care workers treating individuals with autism to develop better treatments and diagnostic tools and future research may enable researchers to identify autism spectrum disorders far more effectively.