Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise An international research group led by a team at the University of Adelaide has made what they believe could be the biggest discovery into cerebral palsy in 20 years. It has long been the belief that cerebral palsy occurs when a child experiences a lack of oxygen during pregnancy or at birth. However, the Australian Collaborative Cerebral Palsy Research Group, based at the University of Adelaides Robinson Research Institute, has found at least 14% of cerebral palsy cases are likely caused by a genetic mutation. The findings of this research are published in the Nature journal, Molecular Psychiatry. The Head of the Cerebral Palsy Research Group, Emeritus Professor Alastair MacLennan, says prior to this research it was believed that as little as 1% of cerebral palsy cases had a genetic cause. Cerebral palsy is a major neurodevelopmental disorder, which disrupts movement control, and it occurs in 1 in 400 children, Emeritus Professor MacLennan says. While we have long suspected that genes may play a role in the development of cerebral palsy, it wasnt until our research group mapped the DNA from cerebral palsy families that we could show genetic mutations are the … Continue reading →

NEW LINK FOUND: Professor Alastair MacLennan and patient Matthew Reinertsen, who has cerebral palsy. Australian researchers have proved cerebral palsy can be genetic, a finding with significant implications for the diagnosis, management and treatment of the debilitating condition which affects movement and posture. Long thought to be caused by a lack of oxygen during pregnancy or at birth, cerebral palsy is caused by genetic mutations in at least 14 per cent of case, Adelaide University researchers have found. However head of the cerebral palsy research group at Adelaide University's Robinson Research Institute Alastair MacLennan said it could be just the start, with up to half of cases potentially caused by genetic mutations. The team, including researchers from America and the Netherlands, mapped the DNA of hundreds of Australian cerebral palsy families, looking for common genetic features. Almost 100 gene mutations were found and some were transplanted into zebrafish, which Professor MacLennan said promptly lost control of their tail. "When we put the good gene back in, we recovered the movement of the fish," Professor MacLennan said. However he stressed that for humans, the implications of the study remained limited to cerebral palsy prevention - rather than curing the condition which … Continue reading →