New mutations implicated in half of autism cases
Half of all cases of male autism may be caused by spontaneous genetic mutations, say researchers who have studied the genetic patterns of the condition. Offspring who inherit such mutations are at a greater risk of having an autistic child themselves.
Read the story here.
Comments
It's a bit surprising that this story describes the relationship between maternal age and spontaneous mutations while omitting last year's finding that older fathers also show increased risk of having autistic children:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/04/AR2006090400513.html
Women aren't the only ones whose gametes are ticking...
Posted by: Jennifer Barone | July 24, 2007 10:41 PM
The thrust of this paper was to relate the rate of spontaneous mutations, disappearance of the mutation due to failure to reproduce, and the overall prevalence of the mutation in the population. Understanding these relationships is essential to directing future research.
The gender of the mutator is relatively a detail, however politically correct it may be.
Posted by: John Blackwell | July 25, 2007 04:02 PM
My child has been diagnosed with both autism and then mercury poisoning. Both conditions have identical symtoms. Autism does not cause mercury poisoning. Being born in the 1990's resulted in being vaccinated twelve times in the first 18 months of life with mercury. Mercury exposure, in combination with anti-biotics, is a disaster leading to both seizures and autism. I wish someone would study this rather than wasting valuable resources on genetic studies. Not one single genetic study has ever been replicated. Here is why I'm concerned about mercury in vaccines.
1 ppb mercury = Kills human neuroblastoma cells (Parran et al., Toxicol Sci 2005).
2 ppb mercury = U.S. EPA limit for drinking water (http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/ind... ).
20 ppb mercury = Dendritic cells damaged, calcium channels interrupted (UC-Davis MIND Institute, 2006).
200 ppb mercury = level in liquid the EPA classifies as hazardous waste (http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/mercury/... )
600 ppb mercury = Level in a currently licensed Hepatitis B, multi-dose vaccine vial, labeled as trace. This is administered at birth.
2,000 ppb mercury = 0.50-mL injections of Thimerosal-containing vaccines (FDA CBER's definition of "trace").
25,000 ppb mercury= Concentration of mercury in multi-dose, Hepatitis B vaccine vials, administered at birth from 1990-2000 in the U.S. Not administered at birth in any other developed country.
50,000 ppb mercury = Concentration of mercury in DTaP and Haemophilus B vaccine administered 8 times in the 1990's to children at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 18 months of age. Current "preservative" level mercury in flu, meningococcal and tetanus (7 and older) vaccines.
Posted by: Bob | July 25, 2007 04:48 PM
Old eggs? You must mean older men's sperm dna mutations. That men collect DNA mutations in their sperm stem cells and sperm with age and toxic exposure has been noted since 1950 in one way or another. Every study that has ever looked at this factor has found that the incidence of autism rises with the age of the father and with the age of the maternal grandfather at the conception of a child, so do many, many, many other genetic disorders. Every year since 1955 more studies have shown that genetic diseases and older fathers in one generation or another or in successive generations go hand in hand. These are the studies that have managed to be done and published.Vaccinations add to this situation of older paternal(32+) age at conception. 50% or more of Down Syndrome in offspring of older couples is due to older men contribution not to the ovum. I'm sure Dr. Wigler is well aware of this fact.
Posted by: LF | July 28, 2007 12:36 AM
I first doubted mercury causes autism. All children were given vaccines, but why does the disease tend to affect the sons of the upper-middle class? Then my thinking was that maybe the mercury damages something specific (an activator perhaps) on the Y chromosome.
I don't think there are gene markers for wealth, however. Which leads me back to the idea that money is the root of all problems; iow mercury is not the problem.
I hope this does not offend frustrated parents. I've been wondering if I myself have some gradated form of the disease. Problems maintaining relationships, socially unresponsive at times, and active imagination, love of ritual, trouble with public speaking; all of these symptoms speak to me on atleast some level.
Posted by: Mike B | August 12, 2007 03:51 AM