Genetics of Autism

Researchers at the University of Utah have been exploring the genetics of autism, and recently confirmed that Chromosome 3 probably holds a gene that "causes" autism. I use the quotes because I think it's ridiculous to say that a gene causes the disease when researchers have shown again and again that autism is not entirely genetic. Autism cannot, in fact, be entirely genetic because over the past decade the disease has spread in epidemic proportions. While the cause of the rise in cases is unknown, it most certainly cannot be genetic. This leaves environmental factors. The most popular theory is mercury, in the form of thimerosal, in childhood vaccines. This is a hotly debated topic that I have addressed before, so I will not go into my rant on the bumbling idiocy and corruptness of our government in regards to the health of these children. Instead I'll point you to Evidence of Harm and Safe Minds to catch you up on the topic. I will add, however, that if the cause of autism was mercury in the vaccines, the rate of autism would go down when the mercury was removed. We now have proof in California that the rates have done just that. While the cause of the drop has not been confirmed, it is exactly what supporters of the mercury theory predicted.

I mention this because with the confirmation of a genetic link to autism, adversaries of the mercury theory are going to come out in droves stating we now have proof that it's not about vaccines. This is soooo not the case.

What the genetic link confirms is that some children have a biological propensity to get autism. One of the theories in the mercury explanation is that some children have a defect that leaves them unable to process the mercury as normal children do. This causes mercury to build up in the brain and leads to autism. IF that's true, this genetic link might cause the defect that causes mercury to accumulate. Regardless, the genetic link does NOT make autism a genetic disease. It simply leads us to the area that might make a child more susceptible to something in the environment that does cause autism.