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Mice Cured of Autism
noahisaac writes "My brother just sent me an article he posted for the Rett Syndrome Research Foundation about a cure for Rett Syndrome, a form of autism. According to the article, researchers successfully re-introduced a fully functional version of the MECP2 gene into mice that had been born with damaged MECP2 genes. Contrary to their expectations, the mice improved. In the article's words, '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.' The ramifications for people suffering from Rett Syndrome are obvious, but mutations of the MECP2 gene are also believed to be the cause of 'classic' autism, and a number of other neurological disorders."
So they spliced a stop codon into the middle of the relevant gene to disable it, then delivered an enzyme all the way to cell nuclei (!) to delete what they spliced in. The next step then it seems is then to find or engineer a proper enzyme to patch a naturally occurring gene defect -- they've basically proven that runtime patching of the genome works. Nice.
...when you're writing a game...tweak the difficulty of "Easy" to something [your mother] can cope with. -- onion2k
They've reversed (something like) Rett Syndrome in mice, showing that the nerve malfunctioning is reversable. In humans, however, missing vital developmental milestones is not reversable. E.g. normally we acquire grammar by age three, but if for some reason we don't acquire it before the age of about 10, we never will (or only very poorly.) So even if this treatment transfers to humans, it is unlikely to be a complete miracle cure for adult Rett Syndrome (or autistic) people.
Here's another article about it.
Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
Before I edited my post I had mentioned that a "cure for autism" is ethically murky. My point is simply that the response to this news should not be unfettered enthusiasm. There are similar ethical debates within the deaf community. Frankly, I think that the problem is not that scientists provide the option of altering oneself, but that these advances in medicine and technology are often couched in paternalism. It's "we can fix you; make you normal" rather than "here's an option". Some day normal will mean having biotech augmentations of some sort. An exciting option, but if someone tells me that they can fix my product of evolution body I might be a little pissed. Try telling a flat chested woman that those can be "fixed" and see what happens. Many autistics have a similar view.
Finally, someone with a reasonable perspective! Thank you for your post. For all of you who don't know, autism--as far as we can tell-- involves the inability of the prefrontal cortex to integrate perception properly. This leads to difficulty in language to the point that most if not all autistic people do not think in linguistic fashion, but rather think visually. Furthermore, the obsession with specific details arises from this; it is as if an autistic individual sees all of what is in his or her visual field, unlike the rest of us who tend to filter out unimportant details. While we think autistic individuals are "in their own little worlds," in reality, their inability filter stimuli results in them being far more aware of the real world than any "normal" person could be. It's no wonder they have trouble developmentally. I have a migraine disorder that manifests in some very bizarre fashions (migraine != VERY BAD HEADACHE; in fact, I almost never have headaches with migraines) including extremely heightened visual and auditory perception. However, whenever I have this heightened perception it is as if I can only perceive the very small details, textures, and contrasts. Let me tell you, IT IS SCARY. Little things become extraordinarily agitating. I honestly don't know how autistic people deal with it. If I had to live my entire life like that, I'd be sitting in a rubber room wearing a soiled diaper with drool dripping down my face as I stared at one spot without moving my gaze until "snow blindness" kicked in rendering my vision useless. Simply changing the neurological structure of someone who has lived with autism will not undue the mechanisms they have learned to compensate with, nor will it automatically restore normal language functioning. You might be able to teach someone these new skills, but you will not have cured them. You will merely have changed them. As to whether that change is for the better or worse I have no answer--the only person who could answer that is the changed individual. Finally, saying a cure for Rett's is a cure for Autism would be like saying a cure for Rett's is a cure for Cerebral Palsy, since Rett's is about as similar to Cerebral Palsy in terms of movement disorders as it is similar to Autism in terms of developmental disorders.
On one last note, do not attack this poster for the clarity of this post as he is moderately inebriated.
What we are talking about here is a form of gemocide. Have you seen Xmen 3? Its the same thing, as parents fear the words "your child has autism", as, certanly in the US, there is a high proportion of parents wanting only normal and perfect children. Parents with autistic children, can, and do find it hard work, even for people with High Functioning Autism like Aspergers Syndrome. I, for instance, was in 2 different primary schools before they found out why I was misbehaving, and could begin to understand. But would any of the people with autism want to change who they are (after the trials of being a teen)? Nobody I have met and talked to has EVER wanted a cure, and infact we protest AGAINST the idea.
The people looking for a cure to some of the physiological symtoms, such as speach therapists, and people helping with day to day support, we are OK with, and support at any time we can, however those trying to "cure" us of our mental differences are the same as Hitler in our eyes.
On one last note, an Autism group in the UK tested all maths aplicants to cambridge one year, and around 80% turned out to have autism of some kind or another.
While Rett's syndrome falls into the rubric of pervasive developmental disorders, it is not technically considered a form of autism, but in fact often mistaken for autism at time of diagnosis. This is because the victims develop normally for the first 12-24 months of life then have rapid loss of social and cognitive skills. Another point is that the overwhelming majority of the patients are female because it is felt the genetic defect is lethal in utero in males and those males that are born generally die in the first year of life. Additionally, unlike autism and Aspergers, Rett's has a definitive genetic link (note they say the the genetic defect _MAY_ be linked to classic autism). Therefore, it is not surprising that someone eventually found a treatment. The etiology of autism is less clear, more likely due to a combinatorial effect of genetics and environment, and is much less likely to be "cured." People in this forum need to get the facts straight before talking about WoW players, /.ers, etc because Rett's is a serious disease.