Scientists reverse symptoms of autism in mice

Researchers from the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) genetically manipulated the mice to model Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), which is the leading inherited cause of mental retardation and the most common genetic cause of autism. FXS is tied to a mutated X chromosome gene called the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. When this gene is mutated, it can cause mild learning disabilities to severe autism. "Our study suggests that inhibiting a certain enzyme in the brain could be an effective therapy for countering the debilitating symptoms of FXS in children, and possibly in autistic kids as well," study co-author Mansuo L. Hayashi, a former Picower Institute postdoctoral fellow currently at Merck Research Laboratories in Boston, said in a prepared statement.... Whole on "Checkbiotech":[ http://www.checkbiotech.org/orphan_News_treatmentandhealth.aspx?infoId=595]

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