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Mice Cured of Autism

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the of-mice-and-men dept.

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."

20 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. it's not a game... by User+956 · · Score: 5, Funny

    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're saying this will cure people of World of Warcraft?

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  2. Algernon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    please if you get a chanse put some flowrs on Algernons grave in the bak yard

    1. Re:Algernon by sinclair44 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm not quite sure what this comment should be modded, but 'funny' doesn't seem to be it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowers_For_Algernon

      --
      Omnes stulti sunt.
  3. Slashdot is doomed by Harmonious+Botch · · Score: 4, Funny

    If there is a cure for autism - and it's close cousin, aspergers - then most of us on slashdot will get a life.

    1. Re:Slashdot is doomed by QuickFox · · Score: 4, Funny

      Most people on Slashdot do not have Apserger's. Where's your proof? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
      --
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  4. How much will the treatment cost? by andy314159pi · · Score: 5, Funny

    How much will the treatment cost Rainman?
    "About a hundred dollars."

  5. In other news by rowlingj · · Score: 5, Funny

    In other news, a nerdy engineer turns into a superb personnel manager after the genes are corrected. The only problem is the manager now has no way of understanding the code and schematics previously thought to be "fully documented".

  6. Runtime gene patching! by jhantin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

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  7. Misleading title by Wuhao · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The rats never had autism -- they had Rett syndrome, which was cured. Why does the poster seem to feel that the results here can be generalized to a similar disorder, when it's not even well understood why it even worked for the first?

  8. Watch your words by Raindance · · Score: 5, Informative

    MECP2 as "the cause" of autism is overblown-- scientists have isolated several genetic areas that are somewhat probable contributors toward developing autism, but
    1. Autism is definitely caused by the contributions of many genes;
    2. There are various ways autism presents itself- presumably due to varying genetic contributions. Rett Syndrome is (in my understanding) an atypically (genetically) simple form of autism.

  9. The implications are obvious by Y-Crate · · Score: 5, Funny

    Self-diagnosed Aspergers sufferers will suddenly find themselves without any excuse for their behavior.

  10. Mice cured... by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Funny

    Obligatory Douglas Adams:

          And far away in some distant dimension, some pan-dimensional hyperintelligent beings have suddenly become extremely anti-social, developed a limp, and are currently wondering if this search for the ultimate question is worth all the bother...

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  11. Jim Sinclair by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From: http://www.autistics.org/library/dontmourn.html

    Autism isn't something a person has, or a "shell" that a person is trapped inside. There's no normal child hidden behind the autism. Autism is a way of being. It is pervasive; it colors every experience, every sensation, perception, thought, emotion, and encounter, every aspect of existence. It is not possible to separate the autism from the person--and if it were possible, the person you'd have left would not be the same person you started with.

    This is important, so take a moment to consider it: Autism is a way of being. It is not possible to separate the person from the autism.

    Therefore, when parents say,

            "I wish my child did not have autism,"

    what they're really saying is,

            "I wish the autistic child I have did not exist, and I had a different (non-autistic) child instead."

    Read that again. This is what we hear when you mourn over our existence. This is what we hear when you pray for a cure. This is what we know, when you tell us of your fondest hopes and dreams for us: that your greatest wish is that one day we will cease to be, and strangers you can love will move in behind our faces.

    1. Re:Jim Sinclair by bri2000 · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I understand your point. However as someone who's life has been ruined by Asperger's Syndrome I have to say there are other perspectives.

      I was seriously bullied and discriminated against at school (by teachers and pupils) and all through university and subsequent life, I have literally no friends or anyone to talk to outside of immediate family members, no chance of ever being in a loving relationship as the only women prepared to have anything to do with me turn out to be menatally ill - seriously, of the two women who've slept with me one turned out to be a schizophrenic and the other had Munchausen syndrome - and a career which has stalled due not to a lack of ability but rather to my inability to connect with people and the fact everyone at work finds me just so damn weird. As a result of these and other problems connected with my AS I now, at the age of 35, suffer from chronic intractable depression. I was, in fact, formally diagnosed with AS after being referred to a consultant psychiatrist for depression last year.

      I fully acknowledge that if I did not have AS I would not be the same individual that I am. That does not bother me. So far as I'm concerned AS has caused me to have a life that is not really worth living and I would have been quite happy (in so far as that concept has meaning when discussing an emotional reaction to non-existence) for someone else, with a slightly different set of genes to me who would have been better at life and enjoyed it a little more, to have taken my place (my therapist hates this line of argument btw - we have huge rows about whether people who say they are happy with AS really believe what they say or are just fooling themselves in a desperate attempt to bolster their self esteem and playing the "noble, stoic cripple" role that society prefers its handicapped members to adopt). If there was a cure I would jump at it.

      I also have to say that, although it's a moot point (see above), if I did ever find a woman willing to breed with me, having had the life I've had and having gone through what I've gone through I would seek genetic counselling and take whatever steps were available to prevent any child of mine from being born with AS (or any other form of autism). I know that the question of whether a bad existence is better than non-existence is extremely difficult from a theoretical perspective but, so far as I'm concerned, if you bring child into the world who you know will have a hellish existence and you could have prevented it, you've done wrong.

  12. wait a minute!!! by neo8750 · · Score: 4, Informative
    "Rett Syndrome was first recognized by Andreas Rett in 1966 and is a neurological disorder affecting primarily females. Autopsies on the brains of these individuals indicate a pathology different than autism; however, children afflicted with Rett Syndrome often exhibit autistic-like behaviors, such as repetitive hand movements, prolonged toe walking, body rocking, and sleep problems."

    Here is the source of this info.

  13. damn mice! by tomstdenis · · Score: 4, Funny

    They keep curing the mice!!! what about us humans? ... :-) [yes this is a joke].

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  14. They're working on that by ChromeAeonium · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, a cure for WOW is in development. You can check it out how the cure is coming along here

    1. Re:They're working on that by Korin43 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Screw that, I want World of Starcraft.

  15. But adults may still be out of luck by Michael+Woodhams · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

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  16. I just wanted to say. by Short+Circuit · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I just wanted to say three things:

    • I am autistic.
    • I have personality quirks I normally keep under control.
    • I do not want my personality "fixed."
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