This week a 5 country collaboration including the largest number of people EVER revealed 80% of the causes of autism are heritable. This is incredibly important to understand autism and move forward with research that matters to families. What it did not do was calculate the role of gene x environment interactions which seems to be the forgotten stepchild of autism research. This week’s #ASFpodcast explains why it is important to understand the heritability while at the same time study the combined effects of genetic and environmental factors.
Podcast: Genes, environment and heritability: why does it matter?
This week a 5 country collaboration including the largest number of people EVER revealed 80% of the causes of autism are heritable. This is incredibly important to understand autism and move forward with research that matters to families. What it did not do was calculate the role of gene x environment interactions which seems to be the forgotten stepchild of autism research. This week’s #ASFpodcast explains why it is important to understand the heritability while at the same time study the combined effects of genetic and environmental factors. Listen to the podcast here.
Don’t be fooled, not all the studies on this week’s podcast focus on the DSM5. But the first one, a review of a meta analysis and review of the dozens of publications that have emerged in the past 5 years around the DSM5 leads us off. There are some people that weren’t captured by either DSM5 or Social Communication Disorder that need a diagnosis, and that should be the focus of future research. A new topic of diagnosis is also explored by a large collaboration is addressed: diagnosis in cousins. They do show a higher probability of an autism diagnosis, but not as high as first degree siblings. Finally, a new tool called JAKE in monitoring treatment effectiveness is presented. This could be used not just in the clinic but at home. It includes monitoring of biological and behavioral features, and might be the next big thing in outcomes for treatment studies. Listen to the podcast here.
On this week’s podcast, highlights of a new study led by Dr. Amy Kalkbrenner of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee published in Environmental Health Perspectives—certain air pollutants from cars and coal burning plants were associated with autism risk and severity. This scientific evidence supports policies which keep U.S. Environmental Protection Agency infrastructure intact to monitor air quality.
ASF Chief Science Officer Dr. Alycia Halladay commented on a new study on the risk of autism if an individual’s grandmother smoked during pregnancy. While the study cannot prove cause-and-effect, the researchers have discovered a link here. Click here to read more.