CRISPR Studies Hint at Cell Pathways Involved in Autism
January 9, 2019
(Spectrum) – A variety of genetic risk factors for autism disrupt some of the same processes in cells, two new studies suggest. Both studies used the DNA-editing tool CRISPR to mutate genes with ties to autism. In one of the studies, researchers grew neurons from human stem cells lacking any of 10 genes implicated in autism. Half of these neurons show diminished electrical activity at their connections with other cells, or synapses.