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  • Autism, Obesity And Schizophrenia Gene Isolated
    The size of a baby's head is often related to neurological disorders, such as autism - which affects 1 in 88 children. Now, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have identified genes responsible for head size at birth by inserting human genes into zebrafish. The study is published online in the journal Nature. Nicholas Katsanis, Ph.D., Jean and George Brumley Jr. M.D...

  • Genetic Discovery Will Revolutionize Understanding Of Gene Expression
    Over the past decade, research in the field of epigenetics has revealed that chemically modified bases are abundant components of the human genome and has forced us to abandon the notion we've had since high school genetics that DNA consists of only four bases. Now, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have made a discovery that once again forces us to rewrite our textbooks...

  • Identifying Autism Risk In High Risk Siblings Of Children With ASD
    By focusing on the identification of common genetic variants, researchers have identified 57 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that predict - with a high degree of certainty - the risk that siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will also develop the condition. The findings were presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research...

  • Simple Task For 6-Month-Olds May Predict Risk Of Autism
    A new prospective study of six-month-old infants at high genetic risk for autism identified weak head and neck control as a red flag for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and language and/or social developmental delays...

  • Gene Related To Autism, Schizophrenia And Obesity Isolated By Zebrafish Study
    What can a fish tell us about human brain development? Researchers at Duke University Medical Center transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then used it to identify genes responsible for head size at birth. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then used it to identify genes responsible for head size at birth...

  • Study Shows Delays In Siblings Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
    A new University of Miami (UM) study shows that one in three children who have an older sibling with an Autism Related Disorder (ASD) fall into a group characterized by higher levels of autism-related behaviors or lower levels of developmental progress. The study will be presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) in May, 2012...

  • Insight Into Brain Regeneration And Developmental Disorders From Mice With Big Brains
    Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) have discovered that mice that lack a gene called Snf2l have brains that are 35 per cent larger than normal. The research, led by Dr...

  • Link Between Anxiety Disorders And Cellular Metabolism
    Anxiety disorders, ranging from social phobia to post-traumatic stress disorder, are the most common psychiatric diseases in the United States. Research in mice suggests a link between the gene that encodes Glyoxylase 1 (GLO1) and increased anxiety; however, the mechanism underlying this association has remained unclear...

  • Schoolyard Designed For Children With Autism
    A Kansas State University graduate student is creating a schoolyard that can become a therapeutic landscape for children with autism. Chelsey King, master's student in landscape architecture, St. Peters, Mo., is working with Katie Kingery-Page, assistant professor of landscape architecture, to envision a place where elementary school children with autism could feel comfortable and included...

  • Defective Carnitine Metabolism May Play Role In Autism
    The deletion of part of a gene that plays a role in the synthesis of carnitine - an amino acid derivative that helps the body use fat for energy - may play a role in milder forms of autism, said a group of researchers led by those at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital. "This is a novel inborn error of metabolism," said Dr...

  • Instant Leap In Human Brain Evolution May Have Been Driven By Extra Gene
    A partial, duplicate copy of a gene appears to be responsible for the critical features of the human brain that distinguish us from our closest primate kin...

  • Genetic Systems Disrupted In Autistic Brain
    Autism has a strong genetic basis, but so far efforts to identify the responsible genes have had mixed results. The reason for this is that autism is influenced by many different genes, and different genes are involved in different individuals, making it hard to find the common genetic ground between patients...