About Opportunity:

In a recent breakthrough at Aberdeen University a team of scientists pinpointed the site of a gene disruption in an autistic child with a unique chromosome rearrangement. Expression of the gene is dramatically reduced in this child. They have now demonstrated different abnormalities in this same gene in other children with autism, these abnormalities have not been found in 500 unaffected individuals tested.

To date, little is known about the causes of autism. Recent large association studies have identified a small number of candidate genes, but none of these give clear functional evidence of causation in classic autistic disorder. The vast majority of the genetic contribution to autism remains unexplained.

This discovery provides a clear window to a new area of investigation in the causation of autism. It provides new opportunities not only for diagnosis, but for therapeutic development for this untreatable and devastating disorder.