Genetic Influences

Although we know, and the scientific community agrees, that genes are involved in developmental disorders, such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and schizophrenia, the genes have been difficult to identify, even though considerable scientific research has attempted to do so. There are often many genes implicated in a developmental disorder, yet the pathways leading to abnormal brain development from these genetic findings are unknown. After 3 decades of genetic research, gene mutations that have been found only account for small percentages of individuals with a specific disorder. Science is beginning to look at alternative ways that genes may be involved in developmental disorders. There may be factors that can influence the function of genes without altering them and cause a developmental disorder. If it is not the genes themselves, it is possible that the process of gene expression during fetal development, disturbed by environmental factors, may lead to the developmental disorders that have no known genetic cause.

Every cell of our bodies contains the DNA of our genes, which determines the proteins in our cells that become enzymes, cell receptors, growth factors and structural cell components, all of which are integral to chemical signaling within our cells. In our genetic focus, we are concerned with the variations in genes that could determine how a component of fetal physiology, such as a cell receptor, responds to an environmental factor present in the intrauterine environment. These variations in gene structure, called polymorphisms, create slightly different versions of the protein molecules that make up cell components. We are also interested in the emerging field of epigenetics, which looks at factors that can influence gene expression without affecting the genes themselves.