New Jersey Scientists Identify Gene Linked to Autism.

Byline: Bob Groves

Apr. 27--New Jersey researchers have found that a gene involved in brain development may cause autism, the baffling behavioral disorder in children.

In autistic children, the gene, when damaged, was found to be associated with an abnormally small cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls language and attention span, said James Millonig at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

The gene, called engrailed 2, exists in mice and in humans, and exerts a similar influence in both, particularly if it mutates, said Millonig, a neuroscientist and cell biologist at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Many different genes, as well as environmental factors, may be involved in causing autism, Millonig said. But this gene may lead to a greater understanding of the disorder if the research can be reproduced with different subjects, he said.

"There have been other genes that have been identified by other groups," Millonig said. "That's why it's so important to test whether we observe the same phenomena in a different data set" involving other autistic children, he said.

Millonig, a mouse geneticist, made his conclusion about the engrailed 2 gene after comparing brain studies of mice with those of autistic children. The damaged gene also causes an abnormally small cerebellum in mice.