New Delhi, April 7: In what could be a significant scientific breakthrough, researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) have identified a potential therapy targeting a key protein that may help individuals with Autism or Intellectual Disability (ID) live more independently.
The study, published in the March 2025 issue of the UK-based journal Aging Cell, shows that manipulating a protein called Syngap1, crucial to brain development, could reverse neural wiring issues and behavioural symptoms associated with these disorders.
“Our findings may be the first demonstration of the reversal of autistic behaviour and neural deficits,” said the research team. The therapy works by modifying epigenetic factors in the Syngap1 protein, which restores neurophysiological functions in mice with a mutated gene resembling the human condition.
Current therapies for Autism or ID mostly manage symptoms without correcting the neurological root causes. This study, however, presents a new direction—addressing the actual phenotypic deficits even after brain development.
Autism, a complex neurodevelopmental disorder, affects approximately 1 in 68 children in India, with boys being nearly three times more affected than girls. The WHO estimates a global prevalence of 1 in 100 children between 2012 and 2021.
In the JNCASR experiments, mice with a mutated Syngap1 gene showed disrupted biochemical processes involving DNA-associated proteins that support chromosome structure—closely mirroring human autistic conditions. The researchers successfully restored function by modifying these epigenetic signals.
While the findings are currently limited to animal models, scientists say this opens new doors to developing targeted therapies for Autism and ID.
