New Research in Genetic Causes of Autism

Video Summary

Dr. Joseph Buxbaum explains two major benefits for discovering genetic causes for autism. First, it gives parents an explanation for their child's disorder which helps them to move forward accordingly, perhaps seeking guidance from a genetic counselor or monitoring their child for other associated symptoms. Second, once genetic causes are found, those genes can be studied in model systems, such as in mice, with the goal of coming up with novel drugs to treat these causes.