By Andrea Hargraves :strip_icc()/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_59edd422c0c84a879bd37670ae4f538a/internal_photos/bs/2023/2/x/3Vh9MyQ06HUTgASe6Fpg/caleb-woods-ecruhwpiw7c-unsplash.jpg)
A study conducted by Brazilian scientist Alison Mutri at the University of California, San Diego, showed the effect of the GTF2I gene on people's social behavior.
“I like to call this gene a prejudice gene. Without it, everyone in the world is your friend,” says the Brazilian scientist.
In the research, scientists were able to determine that GTF2I would be one of the genes responsible for social relationships and Genetic error can determine whether an individual has more social or more conservative traits.
“There is a region on chromosome 7 that all of us humans have, which contains 25 genes. When loses, He has it Genetic deletion, genetic error, you end up with Williams syndrome, which makes you Very social. Another genetic error is Duplication of this area. People with this refined area Ultimately having a form of autism. “They are more introverted, afraid of social contact,” Mutri explains.
Mootri explains that individuals with Williams syndrome attract everyone's attention, have a more developed vocabulary, and are interested in people's lives. mostly, The syndrome is treated as the “opposite of autism.”
The researchers then studied the gene's effect on neurological development.
“The areas that facilitate perceptions of the world are formed during brain development, at least the networks that you will use in your cerebral cortex to establish a relationship with society, including hierarchical relationships. This gene is very important for the formation of the first neural networks that will shape the entire human social context,” he says. Allison Mutrey.
For this study, the scientists created brain organoids without the GTF2I gene. The team observed that at 2 months of age, these organelles were smaller in size than those containing GTF2I. The researchers also noted that loss of the gene led to increased cell death, decreased electrical activity and defects in synapses, highlighting the influence of the gene during fetal brain development.
The Brazilian scientist explains that this work opens the door to potential treatments to increase social communication for people with GTF2I-linked autism.
“We are looking for drugs that we can use to change the molecular pathways controlled by this gene,” Muotri adds.