• Question: What causes autism?

    Asked by tomg44 to Charlie, Eoin, Jemma, Julian, Steve on 21 Mar 2011.
    • Photo: Charlie Ryan

      Charlie Ryan answered on 16 Mar 2011:

      Hi tom i’m not sure really it’s not something that my research is related to.Perhaps some of the more biology connected people on the website can point you in the right direction! Sorry!!

    • Photo: Stephen Moss

      Stephen Moss answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      Hi Tomg44

      This is still one of the big unanswered questions in medical research. We know that it’s not a simple genetic disease, like for example cystic fibrosis where a single mutation in a single gene causes the disease. It seems likely that autism requires several mutations in several genes, and even then, there may be a need for some external ‘trigger factor’ to cause autism. What this means is that if you have the set of genes that put you at risk, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll develop autism, and that it could be exposure to something in the diet, an infection of some sort, cigarette smoke, or something else, that triggers the disease.

      This isn’t my area of research but I follow it with interest, and I know that researchers are getting very close to pinpointing the set of genes that might be linked to ‘risk’ of autism. This will be a huge step forward and may well be solved in the next couple of years.

    • Photo: Julian Rayner

      Julian Rayner answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      Not really known at the moment. It is an area that has got a huge amount of attention because of the publicity around a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. That link has now been thoroughly discredited, and all the data suggests there is no link between any vaccine and autism.

      Autism rates are definitely going up though. Why? Part of it is probably due to increased diagnosis – doctors have a much better idea of what autism is now, so lots of people get diagnosed as being on the spectrum now who in the past would not have done. Not really my field, but my understanding is that rates are still going up faster than could be expected just be increased diagnosis. Lots of work going on to find out why, but there isn’t a good answer that is well supported by the data. Why not be a scientist and help to find out?

    • Photo: Eoin Lettice

      Eoin Lettice answered on 18 Mar 2011:

      Hi tomg44,
      It’s not really my area, but I think it is largely to do with a person’s genes. It is an inherited disorder or caused by mutations during development.

      Eoin

    • Photo: Jemma Ransom

      Jemma Ransom answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Autism is a developmental disease – it develops within the brain as it is formed in the fetus. It has a strong genetic component that scientists are only just begining to understand with lots of complicated changes in DNA that could be involved. We think that these changes in the brain cause improper connections between brain cells (connections between cells in the brain are called synapses) and that this causes the symptoms of Autism.

Comments