BioCentury
ARTICLE | Tools & Techniques

Mouse models of autism

October 20, 2011 7:00 AM UTC

U.S. researchers have engineered mouse strains that model three relatively common genetic causes of autism spectrum disorder.1-3 The mice could help researchers figure out the similarities and differences between various forms of ASD and develop therapeutics tailored for specific subsets of ASD patients. Understanding the precise contribution of the three ASD-linked genetic alterations to the specific clinical manifestations of ASD will require the development of standardized behavioral and neurophysiological assays for the mutant mice.

The majority of ASD cases have no definitive cause. Only 20%-25% of cases are associated with genetic alterations, most of which are subtle mutations or changes in gene copy number of individual genes or small chromosomal regions. A handful of genetically-based ASD cases result from large-scale chromosomal abnormalities...