Fishing for Answers to Autism Puzzle

Full story: ScienceDaily — Fish cannot display symptoms of autism, schizophrenia, or other human brain disorders. However, a team of Whitehead Institute and MIT scientists has shown that zebrafish can be a useful tool for studying the genes that contribute to such disorders.

Led by Whitehead Member Hazel Sive, the researchers set out to explore a group of about two dozen genes known to be either missing or duplicated in about 1 percent of autistic patients. Most of the genes' functions were unknown, but a new study by Sive and Whitehead postdocs Alicia Blaker-Lee, Sunny Gupta and, Jasmine McCammon, revealed that nearly all of them produced brain abnormalities when deleted in zebrafish embryos.

The findings, published online recently in the journal Disease Models & Mechanisms, should help researchers pinpoint genes for further study... READ MORE >>

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A New Approach To Deciphering The Roles Of Genes Associated With Autism

Fish cannot display symptoms of autism, schizophrenia or other human brain disorders. However, a team of MIT biologists has shown that zebrafish can be a useful tool for studying the genes that contribute to such disorders.

Led by developmental biologist Hazel Sive, the researchers set out to explore a group of about two dozen genes known to be either missing or duplicated in about 1 percent of autistic patients. Most of the genes' functions were unknown, but the MIT study revealed... READ MORE >>

Full story: Medical News Today

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. 


Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net