When I read the title on Slashdot I lolled, how can you even *tell* is a mouse has Autism - but actually the story seems to be believable.
http://www.rsrf.org/reversal_experiment/index.html
Basiclly in English it comes down to them being reasonably sure the gene MECP2 is a factor in Autism, and in the research they succesfully reactivated the gene which'd been disabled to mimic the effects and the mice showed neural improvements afterwards.
This of course assumes MECP2 causes Autism in humans, but it's a step in the direction of an active cure in live subjects.
i wasn't aware mice could have autism.
Like I said, even if they could, how could we tell? - But mice do share like 90% of our DNA, and shutting down the MECP2 gene causes them neural problems. In many Autistics the MECP2 gene is in the same state, so it's theorised they are connected.
The process to enable the gene in mice is probably the same in humans, so if they can trn on/off MECP2 in mice, they can do the same in humans.
Well crap. There goes my brain.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=...=1&catID=1
Here is another article that describes the experiments in detail. Sometime recently someone did discover the gene responsible for Rett syndrome, which kills all the males who have it and physically disables all the females. They genetically engineered mice to have a similar genetic deformity and then used a unique therapy to reacticate the gene in question. Under the therapy the male mice were able to live much closer to normal life spans and the female mice no longer had mental retardation. Their therapy and experiments have no direct bearing on typical cases of autism (different genes involved obviously since typical autism doesn't always kill males). The significance of their research to typical autism is that mice with fairly developed brains could recover most all normal function. Or in other words if autism is genetically enhanced brain damage, they think perhaps therapy to change the genetic expression in adults could actually reverse most of the damage. This is a shocking idea since typically anything has to be done in very early childhood to be effective.
The therapy they may have a lead on here, though it could possibly lead to therapies for levels of autism that shouldn't be erased (highly unlikely given that autism deals with physiological differences in major brain structure that would still be there even after gene therapy), would have the benefit that perhaps every human male born with Rett Syndrome wouldn't die. That raises the question that opposing this therapy because it could 'cure' something known to be part of the autistic spectum could also be opposing the right of autistic males to live unless they survive at the level of functioning nature placed them at. Males with Rett syndrome all die in infancy, perhaps they have a right to live as much as we do...[/color]
Restoration of fully functional MECP2 over a four week period eradicated tremors and normalized breathing, mobility and gait in mice that had previously been fully symptomatic and, in some cases, only days away from death.
They make it seem as if Rett's causes death.
Retts syndrome in males does kill males in infancy. Its because they only have one copy of the relevant gene so when it goes haywire they die. Females have two copies of the relevant gene, so when one of them is messed up the other one compensates so they can live a normal life span despite everything else that happens to them. That was the cool thing of the experiement... they managed to have genetically engineered Rett syndrome NOT kill a male even at the point of death.
I wonder if one of my pet rats is autistic. She eats normally and appears healthy but spends a lot of time rocking from side to side. She has recessive pale colouring and pink eyes but is not albino as she is pale caramel and white.
Damn my dylsxcai -- dyslexia!
I thought the headline said "Mime Cured of Autism" ...
Is the mouse going to start a big "How I Overcame Autism" thread?
They didn't cure autism in mice. They cured Rett syndrome.
They can tell that a mouse has Rett syndrome because of the physical features.
Rett syndrome does have autistic-like features; but there are a lot of physical problems too. Girls with Rett syndrome are mentally ***, lose muscle control and usually die early.
While Rett syndrome is a PDD, I don't think I would include it under the "autism" umbrella.
They didn't cure autism in mice. They cured Rett syndrome.
They can tell that a mouse has Rett syndrome because of the physical features.
Rett syndrome does have autistic-like features; but there are a lot of physical problems too. Girls with Rett syndrome are mentally ***, lose muscle control and usually die early.
While Rett syndrome is a PDD, I don't think I would include it under the "autism" umbrella.
I agree. It's more than just autism.
Also, Williams syndrome is not exactly the opposite of Aspergers, because there are many additional traits that don't nessesarily negate or have anything to do with autism. Yet Williams individuals are known to have exellent communication skills, so much that WS is nicknamed "Cocktail Party syndrome."
Hee hee! Autistic mice!
Actually, it made me think of that cartoon "Pinky and the Brain" about the little mouse with the huge head, genius intelligence and only one friend! He keeps trying to take over the world and will presumably outlaw cats when he does so.
Alison
Thank you for not torturing mice.