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Genetic Body/Brain Connection Identified in Genomic Region linked to Autism

Jasmine M. McCammon, Alicia Blaker-Lee, Xiao Chen, Hazel Sive. The 16p11.2 homologs fam57ba and doc2a generate certain brain and body phenotypes. Human Molecular Genetics, 2017; DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddx255

Jasmine M. McCammon, Alicia Blaker-Lee, Xiao Chen, Hazel Sive. The 16p11.2 homologs fam57ba and doc2a generate certain brain and body phenotypes. Human Molecular Genetics, 2017; DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddx255

For the first time, Whitehead Institute scientists have documented a direct link between deletions in two genes – fam57ba and doc2a – in zebrafish and certain brain and body traits, such as seizures, hyperactivity, enlarged head size, and obesity. “Finding the molecular connections between a brain and a body phenotype is indeed really paradigm shifting,” says Whitehead Institute Member Hazel Sive, who is also a professor of biology at MIT...

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