Reply to RFK Jr. Official Speech and Policy Decisions on Autism in NYT

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don’t have faith in these individuals but the question is fair. What in the environment triggers autism in people with a genetic predisposition? Identical twins who have the same genetics don’t always both develop autism or at the same level of severity. Why?[/quote]

What's heinous is that he denies the decades of research that have confirmed without a doubt the genetic origins of autism. Several mutations have been linked to autistic profiles. There is a lot more work that needs to be done to pinpoint exact functional pathways, however, that no one in the research field wants funding to leave that sphere - the research is vital to try to find treatments.

If we are going to ADD research on environmental toxins, that's great! Autism may well be what's called a multifactorial disease, meaning one that needs an environmental trigger on top of a genetic predisposition, to develop in the brain and body.

But no. Here it's very clear he wants to REPLACE existing and future studies on the genes involved in autism, to focus on environmental toxins. And if that happens, it will set autism research back for years. In research, you never abandon a promising path to pursue a wild goose chase! The wild goose chase should only ever be an additional tool in the already full toolbox.

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In addition… the “environmental toxins” will ONLY be those that we can blame on individuals in a way that poses low burden on industry (eg vaccines) and not, g-d forbid, on factors like water and air pollution, since Trump is gutting protections there. [/quote]

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