Test Of Father's Sperm Might Reveal Autism Risk In Children

[appalachiablue]

Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A child's risk for developing autism spectrum disorder may be linked to genetic mutations found only in the father's sperm, a new study has indicated. In an article published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, researchers noted they have developed a method for measuring the presence of these disease-causing mutations in male sperm.

They believe their approach could provide expectant parents and their physicians with a more accurate assessment of autism risk. "With our new study, we can trace some of these mutations back to the father, and we can directly assess the risk of these same mutations occurring again in future children," co-author Jonathan Sebat, chief of the Beyster Center for Molecular Genomics of Neuropsychiatric Diseases at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine, said in a press release.

Autism spectrum disorder affects nearly 2 percent of all children in the United States. Its causes are not fully understood, although researchers believe both genetics and environment play a role. Previous studies have suggested that, in as many as 30 percent of cases, the disorder is linked to genetic mutations that appear only in the child and are not inherited from either parent's DNA.

It is believed that the number of gene-damaging mutations -- which occur spontaneously in parents' sperm or eggs or during fertilization and are present in each cell as the fertilized egg divides -- rise with the father's age at time of conception, and the chance of the mutation recurring within the same family is estimated at 1 to 3 percent...
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/12/23/Test-of-fathers-sperm-might-reveal-autism-risk-in-children/8731577114528/

Also, https://time.com/5754177/autism-sperm-genetic-mutations/

Kids With Autism Are Twice As Likely To Experience Pain
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/10/28/Kids-with-autism-are-twice-as-likely-to-experience-pain/9341572295902/?st_rec=8731577114528

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Interesting.

But we don't test the father's sperm before fertilization, and even if we did we might not interrupt the autism-causing sperm from fertilization. Just a thought.