Posts

Showing posts with the label #breakthru autism treatment

Gene Editing Relieves Autism

Image
Potential Remedy for 25 Million People with Autism More than 25 million people have autism globally. 4 million in the US alone.  For them and their families comes hopeful news.  Researchers have just discovered that editing a gene in the brain can decrease the repetitive behavior, which is a symptom of autism spectrum disorders. This is believed to be the first time that a causal gene for autism in the brain was successfully edited and the disease's symptoms were diminished.  The diminished symptoms were permanent. Nanoparticles at Work Like a Pair of Scissors on DNA Researchers at the University of Texas in San Antonio are behind this breakthrough.  They used nanoparticle carriers to inject a gene editing enzyme into the striatum, a brain region associated with the formation of habits. Enzymes are proteins that trigger biochemical reactions.  The  enzyme used by the team was Cas9. The researchers said Cas9 is like a pair of scissors which they used to cut the genetic blu