News Fresh Today: Trigger for Most Common Form of Intellectual Disability and Autism Identified

The most common genetic form of mental retardation and autism occurs because of a mechanism that shuts off the gene associated with the disease, according to a new study led by Weill Cornell Medical College scientists. The findings, published today in iScience/i, also show that a drug that blocks this silencing mechanism can prevent fragile X syndrome - suggesting similar therapy is possible for 20 other diseases that range from mental retardation to multisystem failure. ...