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WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (AFP) - The United States announced Wednesday it is to boost research on genetic and behavioral aspects of autism, to help doctors improve diagnosis and understanding of the condition.
Some 5.2 million dollars in funding will be put into the joint initiative comprising two research programs, both behavioral and genetic, to focus efforts to fight an illness that has become more prevalent in the past 10 years.
The projects will combine funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with that of private groups, according to the promoters of the plan unveiled at a two-day conference on autism here.
"By pooling the resources of the federal government and the autism community and working together, we increase our chances of creating significant breakthroughs in the next five to 10 years that can improve the lives of families affected by autism," said Prisca Chen Marvin, trustee board chair of the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR).
"Unraveling the complex genetics of autism spectrum disorders will require the kind of statistical power afforded only by a pooling of DNA samples and data from ever larger numbers of affected families," said Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
The first phase, the 4.5 million dollar Autism Genome Project, will involve partnerships between the NAAR and four other institutions.
A second partnership, the High Risk Baby Siblings Autism Research Project, is between the NAAR and the national Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
NAAR began funding baby sibling research in 1997 and has committed 700,000 dollars to the second collaboration.
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