Autism research in Time’s top ten medical breakthroughs
December 15th, 2009Time Magazine’s end-of-the-year issue names autism research as number 7 in the list of “Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2009.” An excerpt:
… Researchers this year identified one possible genetic clue [to the origins of autism]: Variations on a region of chromosome 5, which appear to play a crucial role in about 15% of cases of autism. Working with the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange – a DNA database of more than 2,000 families affected by autism, and the largest genetic study of the disorder ever attempted – researchers zeroed in on variations in genes that code for proteins involved in forming connections in the brain.
Among other top breakthroughs: An effective AIDS vaccine (number 2) and the discovery of genetic links to Alzheimer’s disease (number 9).
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December 16th, 2009 at 3:08 am
There are people out there that want to be “disabled”, for example, purposely paralyze themselves to become paraplegic or quadriplegic. As science discovers more and more about Autism, do you think it will be possible to purposely make your child or yourself have Autism? Maybe they’ll find a way to get rid of Autism completely at some point.
Even if research has the ability to cause or get rid of autism, I think it would be a horrible idea. In Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”, there are different classifications for baby’s intellectual level, and it’s all done by a factory-like process. I believe we shouldn’t experiment with autism’s existence because I feel that brings us one step closer to that dystopia.