The Baltimore Jewish Times' interview with Dr.Don Arking is a comprehensive look at the genetic piece of autism. Dr. Arking is an "assistant professor in the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Arking, a Ph.D. geneticist, specializes in identifying genes in complex diseases."
Dr. Arking's pragmatic approach to the investigation of the causes of autism is thoughtful and specific. The genetic piece is a conundrum. Dr.Arking states:" It’s quite clear there are genetic factors involved in autism. Look at sibling studies, twin studies — the inheritability of autism is considered to be 80 to 90 percent. [But] there is not a single gene, or we would have found it a long time ago."
The severity of the spectrum is dictated by how many of the genes are inherited. This makes sense in cases where twins are both effected, but one is more severe than the other.
Dr. Arking does not believe in the vaccine causation for autism. He also qualifies the question of the increase in reported cases. He notes that parents are willing to forgive the stigma or label and procure diagnosis, in order to start therapy. He notes that when a child partakes in early intervention at toddler age, the results are "quite striking".
He does believe that given the opportunity to target the gene variation that causes the symptoms of autism, drug therapy would be most effective.
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