UEL Baby Dev Lab

Leveraging epigenetics to examine differences in developmental trajectories of social attention: A proof-of-principle study of DNA methylation in infants with older siblings with autism

Gui, A., Jones, E. J., Wong, C. C., Meaburn, E., Xia, B., Pasco, G., ... & BASIS Team. 2020. Infant Behaviour & development

Preliminary evidence suggests that changes in DNA methylation, a widely studied epigenetic
mechanism, contribute to the etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, data is
primarily derived from post-mortem brain samples or peripheral tissue from adults. Deep-phenotyped longitudinal infant cohorts are essential to understand how epigenetic modifications
relate to early developmental trajectories and emergence of ASD symptoms. We present a proof of-principle study designed to evaluate the potential of prospective epigenetic studies of infant
siblings of children with ASD.