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Boston: US scientists have said they have pinpointed six new genes which may contribute to autism.
Research carried out on 104 families in the Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan found that children with autism have genes which are crucial to learning through experiences have been ‘switched off’.
A team from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute visited Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to carry out the research.
The scientists chose the region partly because of the higher instances of cousins marrying – which brings a greater risk of genetic mutation.
They also wanted to study in the Middle East because traditionally familes have more children than those in the West, which gave them a greater number of people to test.
The researchers looked to compare the DNA of relatives with and without autism.
"Eventually we find a spot where all affected children have two identical chunks of DNA, and where unaffected children have something different,” said the report.
The study claims that many cases of autism are caused by genetic defects that disrupt the brain's ability to learn.
It found that some genes linked to brain development in the first year of a child’s life are different in autistic children, but that these genes are not ‘missing’, they are just kept switched off.
If found to be true, these genes could in theory be activated by drugs or educational therapy to encourage a more normal development of the brain.
Eric Morrow, who led the research team said: “We would not need to replace the gene, if we could only figure out how to reactivate it.”
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