Genetic Research

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I see a lot of people posting here negatively about genetic research in relation to Autism. I understand that people have a fear of some kind of Gattaca style eugenics program targeting Aspies but, I also understand that genetic research could be an important element in understanding many different medical/neurological conditions including Asperger's. Maybe it's because my mother works in the field of genetic research that I feel that it's an inevitable component of understanding life and Asperger's. Saying that, I do think that certain charities could use a little more focus on "treatments" that diagnose and help Aspies cope with issues then a search for a "cure". What ever that is.

I feel genetic research is extremely important too. Especially in regards to Autism. Recently scientists have been able to link the genes that cause Autism to the genes that cause Bipolar and Schizophrenia. It's incredibly important to understand what causes Autism and Schizophrenia so that better treatment and therapy becomes available.

I think we are too curious about genetics. we dont know enough about the human genome to go messing with it. unfortunately the only way to gain experience is by trial and error.

I think its way to risky, there is too much potential for a "GATTACA" type outcome to occur, even unintentionally. The US experimented with eugenics in the 1910s and 1920s, realize that if that had occured later, a good portion of us might not be here. It truly is a slippery slope, if we use genetics to cure cancer, then people will get obsessed with "curing" everything, and the best way to "cure" a problem is to prevent it from happening,

Doctor:"well mrs. chadmaster, it looks like your baby has a 95 percent chance of developing _________ syndrome, the law dictates i abort him, its essential for keeping the gene pool clean"

just keep in mind that hitlers favorite game was genetic purity. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

It is a potentially dangerous slipper slope but imagine if human beings were able to evolve past that kind of pettiness, now think about new cures and fewer mistreatment and hospitalization of the mentally ill and the mentally challenged. If we could find a way to fix genetic abnormalities that cause disabling neurological conditions then there wont be abortions necessarily, instead maybe more children will be born without debilitating condition's because of genetic therapies made available to their parents. This is part of the research I look into on my spare time.
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/38/24/15.full
Both Autism and mental illness run in my family so I'm always looking for new research.

I think it's a bit late in the game to be worried about eugenics when babies are already being aborted in certain countrys for the simple "genetic deficiency" of being Female. The simple fact there is no slippery slope we are already on the bottom.

Good point! And about the movie GATTACA they were giving people of lower physical and mental quality lower paying jobs and poor treatment, well NEWS FLASH PEOPLE, That's something that happens naturally!! ! It's part of nature and survival and it will never stop happening. I've been treated all my life like crap before the DX now that I have the DX I totally get why and I do my best to deal with it, and all the co morbid conditions too.

Genetic research is only just beginning, in general. I recall another topic here that linked to an article about an AS neurologist who was going over old studies that only focused on the negative repercussions of AS.

If you don't view the entire 'problem,' you will never fully understand it. I think that if that thinking prevails, the 'cure' debate will be less of an issue.

What the people in GATTACA weren't figuring in was individual decisions--that of the individual with a particular genetic profile, and those around them. Without that element of choice and decision, a person's potential will never truly be known.

I think it is good - I think a recent genetic study showed just how many genes are involved in ASDs and how complex it all really is - which makes the idea of a "cure" less and less likely in scientific circles which hopefully will lead to research focused on helping people and understanding it better - more knowledge and science is good - most of the language about eliminating autism doesn't come from research but from pseudoscience and ignorance.

I'm against genetic research, that will lead to the abortion of unborn autistics. This is where I stand, and it will be my only post, in this thread.

I don't mind the research itself but what it leads to. Not that I intend to live long enough to see that nor do I intend to have anyone succeed me.

Im for the research but against any form of genetic engineering or abortion that could come about as a result. Appareantly, Autism is carried on chromosine 7.

Everything that is genetic needs to be researched. Period! It's what we do with the knowledge is a different thing though. Example: you find what looks like a bomb with two labelled buttons on the side in a foreign language, do you press either button till you find out exactly what they say? and if the words when translated are obscure... you should do more research. the issue with genetics is that we need to do a lot of pure research before actively doing experiments because of all the side effects that happen, each gene does morre than on thing and there are inter-relationships between genes. so until we know the full effect of a gene we should be careful playing with it.

Genetic research is very valuable. It may identify genetic characteristics that identify autism, or types of autism (which has to be better than subjective human judgement), or the proteins associated with genetic variants related to autism - which will point to drug therapies and other interventions, or to relationships with other conditions.

Prenatal diagnosis of autism (and abortion) would not be permitted where I live and is not an issue.

The genetic manipulation, like Gattaca, is science fiction and is not an issue.

If autism/asperger is thinned out humanity will go back to the goddamn stone age. This is coming from a NT.

In Gattaca they didn't do any genetic manipulation at all. All they did was take several embryos and screen them for genetic defects. Then allowed the parents to select between the most genetically viable eggs for hair color, eye color and gender. Then they just plant the embryo that the parents selected.

Since the technology already exists to create viable embryos in a test tube any genetic features that can be determined prior to implanting them could be used "engineer" what kind of baby will result. At the bare minimum you can probably already screen for gender. Other things might not be too far off.