Janine LaSalle, Ph.D.: Detecting Autism Before Birth

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Janine LaSalle discuss Dr. LaSalle’s research on autism, focusing on prenatal gene-environment interactions. She explains that autism affects one in 36 children and talks about how genetic and prenatal environmental factors, such as maternal health and chemical exposures,  play a role in autism. Dr. LaSalle discusses how they use placental DNA to identify epigenetic marks linked to autism, aiming to predict probability of autism before birth in order to intervene early. The conversation highlights the importance of understanding these factors to develop early intervention strategies.

 Key Takeaways:

• It's almost impossible to compare autism incidents across time because the diagnostic criteria have changed many times over this span. There's no definitive laboratory test for autism.

• A number of genes have been identified that increase the risk of autism, genes that affect prenatal neurodevelopment.

• Maternal obesity, maternal asthma or fever during pregnancy, and preterm birth are a few examples of maternal health factors implicated in autism. Environmental exposures during pregnancy that increase risk for autism include air pollution and some pesticide exposures - these have the best evidence because they can be measured easily.

• Prenatal identification of newborns at risk for autism allows treatment to begin immediately after birth to improve their developmental trajectories.

• While little boys have a much higher incidence of autism and ADHD, the mechanism underlying the sex difference is not understood. 

"The best explanation for most cases of autism is really the combination of common environmental factors and common genetics." —  Janine LaSalle, Ph.D.

Connect with Janine LaSalle, Ph.D.:

Professional Bio: https://health.ucdavis.edu/medmicro/faculty/lasalle/ 

Website: https://mmi-lab.ucdavis.edu/ 

UCDavisMind Institute: https://health.ucdavis.edu/mind-institute/

UCDavis Genome Center: https://genomecenter.ucdavis.edu/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-lasalle-70149415 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

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