Charting parts of the genome likely to contain faulty genes is enabling researchers to home in on genes involved in developmental delay and possibly ones behind psychiatric disorders too.
The international study used DNA from 29,000 children who had been diagnosed with developmental delay and compared it with DNA from nearly 20,000 normal adults.
Seven Australian researchers took part in the study, which is reported today in Nature Genetics.
Children with developmental delay reach their milestones – such as making eye contact, sitting and talking – later than other children, explains Professor Jozef Gécz, of the University of Adelaide, one of the Australians involved.
Their developmental delay may be the first sign of intellectual disability or an autism spectrum disorder, he says.
Read the full, original story: Detecting genes for developmental delay
