University of Adelaide researchers have taken a step forward
in unravelling the causes of a commonly inherited intellectual disability,
finding that a genetic mutation leads to a reduction in certain proteins in the
brain.
ARX is among the top four types of intellectual disability
linked to the X-chromosome in males. So far, 115 families, including many large
Australian families, have been discovered to carry an ARX (Aristaless related
homeobox) mutation that gives rise to intellectual disability.