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(单词翻译)
By Carol Pearson
Washington, DC
20 February 2007
watch Autism report
Scientists working to solve the mysteries of autism say their research points to genetic2 causes. The results come from the largest study ever done on the disorder3. The study looked at the genes4 of almost 1,200 families. Each had at least two autistic children. VOA's Carol Pearson has more.
Autism was first believed to be caused by bad parenting
Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder. It affects people throughout the world. Autism occurs in all racial, ethnic5, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls.
Theresa and Chris Waddell have two boys with mild autism. Theresa says they are both different. "Autism is such a wide spectrum6. Every child presents [manifests the symptoms] differently."
Which is why it is really a group of disorders7 called autism spectrum disorders, or ASD. ASD impairs8 a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. Those most severely9 affected10 cannot even talk.
Scientists suspected a genetic cause -- and this may have been confirmed by a new international study. Computers that can read billions of DNA11 signals in minutes showed specific genes and genetic abnormalities unique to these families.
Joseph Buxbaum
Geneticist Joseph Buxbaum is one of the principal investigators12 in the study. He explains what they found. "A smoking gun that implicates13 a series of genes that all work together, and may together cause autism."
The researchers say the new study also shows environmental toxins14 do not cause autism spectrum disorders. Professor Buxbaum adds, "The evidence suggests autism is over 90 percent caused by genes."
And not by just one gene1 but by combinations of genes that may cause the different degrees and kinds of autism.
Buxbaum says it is just the beginning, "We have the beginnings of the beginning, I would call it. The message here is that there is great hope now." The researchers say they hope their findings will lead to drugs that could reverse autism in five to 10 years.
The researchers will now focus on the many genes they've identified in the autism families hoping to find the exact roles of each gene or abnormality and how they interact.
1 gene | |
n.遗传因子,基因 | |
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2 genetic | |
adj.遗传的,遗传学的 | |
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3 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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4 genes | |
n.基因( gene的名词复数 ) | |
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5 ethnic | |
adj.人种的,种族的,异教徒的 | |
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6 spectrum | |
n.谱,光谱,频谱;范围,幅度,系列 | |
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7 disorders | |
n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 );凌乱;骚乱;(身心、机能)失调 | |
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8 impairs | |
v.损害,削弱( impair的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9 severely | |
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地 | |
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10 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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11 DNA | |
(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸 | |
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12 investigators | |
n.调查者,审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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13 implicates | |
n.牵涉,涉及(某人)( implicate的名词复数 );表明(或意指)…是起因 | |
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14 toxins | |
n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 ) | |
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