Friday, January 04, 2008

proteins linked to autism

There is a news story on Chemistry World (not mine) about the crystal structure of the complex formed by neuroligin with beta-neurexin. Apparently, mutations in these proteins have been linked to autism.

Obviously, the crystal structure is not going to provide any quick answers about the disorder, as there are at least a dozen genes contributing to the symptoms of autism, but it's good to see things are happening at the molecular scale, and one day we might even understand how it all fits together ...

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