Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Fathers Sperm May Hold Clues to Autism Risk
Autism is a disorder that causes social, communication, and behavioral challenges. According to a recent study, a fathers sperm may hold clues about whether or not his children could be at an increased risk for autism. Although many experts believe autism is inherited, there is no genetic test to assess the risk of autism.
Scientists wanted to learn what happens before someone develops autism. To do this, researchers tested the sperm of 44 fathers of children with early signs of autism. As a result, they discovered 193 sites, many involved in brain development, where the presence or absence of an epigenetic tag was related to autism. They also found that 4 of the 10 sites that were closely related to autism were located closely to genes that were associated to prader-willi syndrome, a disorder that causes the same behavioral symptoms as autism. Researchers say that several of the altered epigenetic patterns were found in the brains of people with autism, supporting the theory that they might be related to autism.
I find it interesting that a disorder such as autism is able to be diagnosed just by looking at the fathers sperm, especially since it is a disorder that doesn't really show up until early childhood. Hopefully, doctors and researchers will look more into this study and be able to find the exact cause of autism.
Original Article
Labels:
Autism,
Prader-Willi Syndrome,
sperm
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