Canadian scientists studying 'genetic wrinkles' in DNA have made a breakthrough that they believe could explain why some individuals find themselves on the autistic spectrum.
Kristen Ellison of Cobourg, Ont., and her son Carter, who is on the autism spectrum. Ellison said she hopes the research will lead to improvements in the quality of life for those with autism.TORONTO -- In a lab at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, scientists went on a hunt through the DNA of some 10,000 families -- many whom have children with autism.
Current research estimates that genetic factors should be found in anywhere from 50 to 90 per cent of individuals with ASD. When these wrinkled strands of DNA are replicated, the repeat can grow longer, which is why a tandem repeat present in a parent’s DNA could be expanded from parent to child.Tandem repeats had been studied before individually, but it was difficult, as they had to be searched for in one gene at a time.
Scherer said that in the almost two decades he’s been studying the autism spectrum, “this is the most exciting advance we've had in 15 years.” “We're in the infancy of this research and so realistically, I don't know if it's gonna have an impact, right away,” she told CTV News.
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