By compensating for a missing copy of SCN2A, one of the genes most strongly linked to autism, a variant of the gene-editing technology CRISPR can reduce susceptibility to seizures, according to a new study in mice. SCN2A haploinsufficiency—in which gene variants cause someone to have just one functional copy of SCN2A instead of the usual […]
Autism-related behaviors and susceptibility to seizures both arise from hyperactivity in a key region of a sensory-information-processing circuit in the brain, a new study finds. The results may help explain the frequent co-occurrence of autism and epilepsy and point to a new therapeutic target. According to current estimates, about 12 percent of people with autism […]
Some mutations that disable SCN2A, one of the genes most closely linked to autism, can make neurons unexpectedly hyperexcitable, a study in mice shows. The results could help explain why a significant proportion of autistic children with mutations in SCN2A have epileptic seizures. SCN2A codes for Nav1.2, a sodium ion channel that helps transmit electrical […]
