Married cousins’ children help autism research

COUSINS who marry and have children are helping scientists to make ground-breaking discoveries about autism.

The research has already identified large sections of the genetic code de-activated in autistic individuals.

At least six genes linked to learning may be involved.

Generally the problem is a broken “on-off switch” that stops the gene working. The faults can be corrected by “hot wiring” the genetic code to bypass the switch.

Studies have suggested neural re-wiring of this kind may occur naturally when autistic children are placed in enriched environments.

Pinpointing the roots of autism is difficult because the disorder is thought to have multiple genetic and environmental causes.

Autistic children share three main traits. They are slow to develop language, find it hard to communicate and interact socially, and repeat certain behaviour patterns over and over again.

Autism runs in families, and is affected by certain inherited genes. However, scientists have so far only managed to uncover an estimated 15% to 20% of its genetic causes.

When a mother and father share a recent ancestor, the chances of offspring being affected by autism roughly doubles.

This gave scientists the inspiration to investigate families from middle-eastern countries where it is normal for cousins to marry.