Even if the scientists nab their autism genes, there is no certainty they can turn that into a treatment. A genetic diagnosis at birth could, however, help children get special therapy early. Then, babies testing positive could avoid whatever food, medicine, or other factors are linked to the disease. But the real promise behind the genome is in new drugs, perhaps something that could make it easier for autistic people to cope. If that's possible, it could take years.
Genes merely hold the code to make proteins.
It is those proteins that actually operate the body - digesting food, fighting infections, sending signals through the brain. Gene-based drugs work, in theory, by imitating the normal version of an abnormal protein. Gene therapy goes further, adding an engineered version of the gene so the body can make the protein itself. In Bucks County, Regina Rizzo said that other parents of autistic children consider her lucky because her boys are less severely handicapped than most. The oldest, John, now 14, was talkative and inquisitive at 9 months.