A year after scientists discovered a gene whose flaw contributes to dyslexia, scientists have identified two more such genes.
The findings strongly support the idea that many people deemed lazy or stupid because of severe reading problems may have a genetic disorder that interfered with the connections in their brains before birth.
Dr Albert Galaburda of the Harvard Medical School, an authority on developmental disorders who was not involved in the latest discoveries, said the combined findings meant that, for the first time, „we have a link between genes, brain development and a complex behavioural syndrome“.
A genetic test for dyslexia should be available within a year or less, researchers into the condition said. Children in families that have a history of the disorder could be tested before they started learning to read. If children were carrying a genetic risk of dyslexia they could be put in early intervention programs.
Schlagwort: dyslexia international
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Gene May Be Linked To Dyslexia
Researchers have found a gene that may be linked to dyslexia, a reading disability that affects millions of children and adults.
The gene is called „DCDC2.“ Scientists have found a gap in that gene in about 17 percent to 20 percent of people with dyslexia who were studied.
„The message is really crystal clear,“ researcher Jeffrey Gruen, MD, tells WebMD.
„We confirmed yet again that dyslexia is genetic,“ says Gruen. He’s an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Yale Child Health Research Center at Yale University’s medical school.
US-Forscher haben ein weiteres Gen für die weit verbreitete Lese- und Schreibschwäche identifiziert. Legasthenie ist die am häufigsten vorkommende neurologische Störung. Sie bedeutet ein erschwertes Lernen für Betroffene unabhängig von Intelligenz, Bildung und sozialem Umfeld. Unter Legasthenie leiden 5 bis 15 Prozent der Bevölkerung.
Jeffrey Gruen von der Yale Universität in New Haven (US-Staat Connecticut) und Kollegen berichten in einem vorgezogenen Artikel der «Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences» (PNAS) vom Freitag, dass auch das Gen DCDC2 auf Chromosom 6 an der Wurzel des Übels liegt.
Das Team suchte im Erbgut von 153 Familien mit Veranlagung für die Lese- und Schreibschwäche nach deren Auslöser. Dabei stiess es in einem schon lange verdächtigten Abschnitt des Chromosoms auf das Gen DCDC2.