Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Shortage Of Brain Tissue Hinders Autism Research




Research on autism is being hobbled by a shortage of brain tissue.
The brain tissue comes from people with autism who have died, and it has allowed researchers to make key discoveries about how the disorder affects brain development.

But there's not nearly enough tissue because most potential donors aren't identified, and their family members are never approached about the possibility of donation. The shortage has been especially bad since last summer, when a freezer at a Harvard brain bank failed  allowing dozens of autistic brains to thaw.

This is the story of three people who are grappling with the shortage: one is a man who has autism, one is a scientist who studies the disorder, and one runs a tissue bank.

To hear the rest of the story, please click on the above title.
To access the CDR Library catalog, please click on this link.

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