COLD SPRING HARBOR LABS AND ITS $11 MILLION HUNT FOR COPY-NUMBER POLYMORPHISMS RELATED TO AUTISM

CRYOBANKING OF SPERM WOULD HELP, MEN NOT FATHERING BABIES PAST 32 WITHOUT CRYOBANKED SPERM WOULD HELP, KNOWING THE RISK FACTORS OF AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS ETC. WOULD HELP PREVENT AUTISM, IF THE MOTHER HAD AN OLDER FATHER WHEN SHE WAS BORN SHE MIGHT WANT TO ASSESS THE RISK FACTORS AND MAYBE BE TESTED FOR FRAGILE X; THERE ARE STEPS THAT CAN BE TAKEN, AND THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO BE MADE AWARE THAT RISE OF AUTISM FOLLOWS THE RISE IN AVERAGE PATERNAL AGE AND JUST THE SHEER NUMBER OF MEN OVER 33 FATHERING BABIES AND HAS BEEN EXPECTED.
— most notably, Cold Spring Harbor’s
$11-million hunt for copy-number polymorphisms
related to autism.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory raising cash for new labs
Long Island Business News, Dec 1, 2006 by Ambrose Clancy


Big ambitions, big dreams, big buildings.

That's what Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is thinking as the research facility gears up to solve the mysteries of some of the most severe illnesses plaguing humans. Ground has been broken for six new buildings on the laboratory campus, and the new facilities should be ready within two years, according to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's chief of development, Charlie Prizzi.

The actual construction costs will be about $100 million, with an additional $100 million needed for research costs and to attract scientists. The expansion project involves "integrating biology and math for a new area of genetics," Prizzi said, with researchers focusing on the root causes of cancer, autism, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.


The design of the six new buildings will be in line with the current campus' low-key plan, what Prizzi described as "a village of science." The structures will total about 120,000 square feet and be connected by underground passages so there will be no separation of facilities or individuals. "You'll be able to walk into Building One and walk out of Building Six," Prizzi said.


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Sperm Mutation Linked To Autism
Science Daily — University of Iowa researchers have learned more about a genetic mutation that contributes to autism. The mutation occurred in sperm cells of a father, who does not have autism, but passed the condition on to two of his children.

U-I researchers find genetic link to autism
Monday, May 7, 2007,

Wassink says they did further study to narrow down the gene mutation. Wassink says, "At some point in the embryonic development of the father, an abnormality occurred or a mutation arose in his primordial sperm cell." Wassink says the discovery of the mutation led to more research. He says the screened the gene, called "neurexin one," for mutations in about 400 other individuals with autism, but didn't find any additional mutations of the gene in people with autism. Wassink says it appears the mutations in the gene in this particular family are not a very common cause of autism.
Wassink, who is an associate professor of psychiatry, says this study does not show any link to an earlier study that indicated that the chances for autism increased with the age of the father. Wassink says age is not a factor in this finding.








Autism Researchers Report Key Genetic Finding February 21, 2007

A team of international researchers, including a psychiatrist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, recently announced the publication of preliminary results from the largest genome scan ever conducted in autism research.

The research consortium discovered a previously unidentified region of chromosome 11, and neurexin 1, a member of a family of genes believed to be important in neuronal contact and communication. The neurexin finding highlights a special group of neurons, called glutamate neurons, and the genes affecting their development and function, suggesting they play a critical role in autism spectrum disorders. The research article appears in the journal Nature Genetics, one of the world's most prestigious scientific publications.




This research was performed by more than 120 scientists from over 50 institutions representing 19 nations who formed a first-of-its-kind autism genetics consortium, the Autism Genome Project (AGP). Thomas Wassink, M.D., associate professor in the UI Department of Psychiatry, and Val Sheffield, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the UI Department of Pediatrics and a specialist with Children's Hospital of Iowa, participated in the effort.

Autism Speaks, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of autism and raising money to fund autism research, and the National Institutes of Health, funded the genome scan in the first phase of the project.

Phase 2 of the project represents a $14.5 million investment over three years by Autism Speaks, the British Medical Research Council (MRC), the Health Research Board of Ireland (HRB), Genome Canada and partners, Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC), and the Hilibrand Foundation.

STORY SOURCE: Joint Office for Marketing and Communications, University of Iowa Health Care, 200 Hawkins Drive, Room E110 GH, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1009