Autism: A developmental disorder which prevents the natural development of the brain.
Syndrome: Recognizable features or signs that point towards a certain disorder or disease, in this case Autism.
Summary:
Autism, "a disorder marked by impaired social interaction and communication," has been proven to have a genetic link. The cause of this link has long been studied, and scientists today have found sources that only account for part of the problem. For example, scientists have found that disorders in neural pathways can cause autism. However, they cannot find a single root cause for autism. Another difficulty scientists have had is getting over the fact that a common gene variation does not result in a common disease because of what are called "copy number variations," or copies of genes that appear multiple times. When scientists finally went over every single gene variation, they found there were over 1300, and sometimes they were from the parents. However, of the 1300, there are some genes that are known to definitely increase the risk for autism. The article sites studies about genes that maintain brain connection, or other key functions.
Discussion:
Questions:
Is it possible to find, say, five genes that have the largest impacts on autism and use gene therapy to cure those five genes? If so, how much of an effect would this have on the overall case of autism? Also, how would gene therapy be used to cure this?
Resources:
Gaidos, Susan. "The unusual suspects." ScienceNews. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct.
2010.
URL:http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/64069/title/The_unusual_suspects
Excellent blog post. It is very interesting and I agree with you on how it would allow the world to prosper if autism could be cured. The future would be brighter for the fight against this disorder, and there would be hope for kids with autism. In your discussion, you mentioned gene therapy. However, you did not explain at all what gene therapy is and how it could possibly be used as a cure. If it had been included in your post, I would have understood it better. Also, why did you choose this article and how did you find it interesting?
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my blog. I realize my post could have been confusing if I did not explain gene therapy. Gene therapy is where scientists change the genetic makeup of individual cells. Usually, it is used to help fix genetic diseases or disorders. I chose this article because I have researched about autism after reading about its effects. The subject really drew me in because of how bad I felt for the children. I found this really interesting because, another one of my interests is different types of medicines, like electrotherapist. Genetic therapy is very interesting for me.
Nice blog and article choice, Pranav!
ReplyDeleteThank you for explaining what gene therapy is. However, you could maybe add it to your "definition" section or somewhere in the actual blog. Your title really interested me because I have, in fact, met an autistic child, and I know how they act. I think it would be very beneficial to the world if the scientists could find the specific causes of autism and how to cure/prevent it. Many autistic kids are not very social, but most are actually, geniuses in their own way. I met an autistic kid who could tell you the day of the week your birthday was that year if you told him the date (without looking at a calendar). The world would be greatly helped if children diagnosed with autism could be helped.
Something to think about: Is it possible that autism somehow has some benefits?
ReplyDelete