Autism Model in Mice Linked With Genetics, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Study

For the first time, researchers have linked autism in a mouse model of the disease with abnormalities in specific regions of the animals' chromosomes. The regions contain genes associated with aberrant brain development and activity. "These discoveries in mice may eventually pave the way towards understanding autism in human patients and devising new treatments," said co-senior author, Elliott H. Sherr, MD, PhD, a pediatric neurologist at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital and professor of neurology at UC San Francisco (UCSF).