Martha Herbert blogs mutations in autism

[Guest guest]

http://www.autismrevolution.org/bigger-than-autism-bigger-than-genes-a-whole-bod\

y-approach-to-mutations-and-what-you-can-do/

Fresh scientific research linking new gene mutations to autism risk has

been spun as a breakthrough for genetic research. Some have also noted

that environment may well be influencing the genome. But these news

reports are missing a bigger story: that the environment is influencing

our whole bodies – and that we can do something about this to reduce our

risk, protect our health and even help autism.

These new – or “de novo” – gene mutations mean that a child has a new

mutation that they did not inherit from their parents. Think about

that. Genetic but not inherited

<http://autism.mit.edu/sites/autism.mit.edu/files/Beaudet%20--%20Heritable.pdf>.

Are we seeing more new mutations now than in the past? If so, why?

That and the increasing numbers of children with autism both suggest a

role for the environment

<http://www.autismwhyandhow.org/what-causes-autism/environment/>.

We don’t know for certain, but Dr. Insel, Director of the NIMH

(National Institute of Mental Health) believes the environment is

playing a role in de novo mutations. Here’s how he put it on PBS News

Hour in the final interchange

<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june12/othernews_04-04.html>:

*/DR. THOMAS INSEL: /*/ …the reality here is that some autism is truly

genetic and it’s certainly likely that some autism is going to be more

due to environmental causes. What these new studies suggest is that the

two may really fit together, that the environment may be affecting the

risk for autism by influencing the genome itself and actually increasing

the likelihood of these spontaneous mutations./

That is an excellent start. But if you leave it at this, we might think

this is just about genes and just about autism, and we will be left with

nothing to do but worry about our odds....