The notion of overlap between autism and genius has been culturally popularized. However, a significant portion of those on the spectrum also test within the intellectually disabled (ID) range with […]
The term, Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP), is not a diagnosis. Instead, it’s used to refer to sub-diagnostic traits of autism in family members of those with the condition. Symptoms can […]
Although it’s a difficult topic to study, because the human species has experienced a number of population bottlenecks over time it’s assumed that rates of consanguinous (close kinship) marriage or […]
Last weekend I attended a Think Tank sponsored by the Autism Research Institute. In attendance were Judy van de Water and Paul Ashwood from the MIND Institute, reporting on some […]
Over the last year and a half, I’ve been studying rare forms of intellectual disability (ID) that have single-gene (monogenic) origins using various bioinformatics approaches. My primary interest was to […]
When choosing romantic partners, we’re all familiar with the phrase “like attracts like”. Ironically, however, this phenomenon is all too often overlooked in modern genetics studies. In a recent study […]
In the 1950s, the company, Chemie Gruenenthal, marketed a drug intended for the treatment of respiratory infections. Soon, however, they realized it worked as an effective sedative and, more importantly […]
There’s been a lot of study of copy number variants (CNV) in autism over the last decade or so. Far from beating a dead horse, a recent publication in Neuron […]
A few weeks ago I wrote about cell stress and its relationship with epilepsy. I reviewed how the accumulation of misfolded proteins within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) can lead to […]
At the moment, about 15-20% of cases of autism have an identifiable genetic component. Most of this is comprised of rare (<1%) mutations that have comparatively high penetrance for autism […]
Science Over a Cuppa 
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