Monday, February 19, 2007

Scientists Discover Gene (Partially?) Responsible for Autism, Haven't Patented It Yet!

An enormous study of autism involving over 1,200 families and more than 120 scientists from over 50 institutions has resulted in the discovery that the neurexin 1 gene located on chromosome 11 is at least partially responsible for autism.

Child psychiatrist Jonathan Green states: We hope that these exciting results may represent a step on the way to further new treatments in the future." I can only suppose that he also hopes that whoever sponsored his research doesn't decide to patent the sequence of DNA bases involved and charge other researchers exorbitant amounts to examine the gene!

BBC News article.

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