PLT Test Blog

Yet more money was just donated to autism research. In 2017 the CEO of Broadcom gave $20 million to MIT and now he has given $20 million to Harvard, where he did his MBA. Time to boost Homer's mitochondria? I think philanthropists from the fast-moving IT sector should demand rather more from the slow-moving world of autism research.   I also think common sense is often more lacking than money. The US Government has also just announced $1.8 billion for autism research. Donald Trump authorized a five-year extension of the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support (CARES) Act. The 2014 act dedicated funds to children with autism spectrum disorder, but the new version includes adults.   Children with autism do indeed grow up to become adults with autism.   Today we look at further applications of DMF, which is a cheap chemical also sold as a very expensive drug. We learnt from Dr Kelley, from Johns Hopkins, that most regressive autism features mito...

Today’s post should be of interest to those concerned about mitochondrial disease and mTOR. mTOR is a very important signaling cascade that often dysfunctional in autism. Many aspects of autism and its comorbidities can be traced back to mTOR. The going is easier with a PPAR pan-agonist   mTOR integrates the input from upstream pathways, including insulin, growth, and amino acids.    mTOR also senses cellular nutrient, oxygen, and energy levels. The mTOR pathway is a central regulator of metabolism and physiology, with important roles in the function of tissues including liver, muscle, adipose tissue, and the brain.   It is dysregulated in human diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, certain cancers and indeed autism. One important process affected by mTOR is the creation of new mitochondria in your cells.   Each cell has many mitochondria, but in some people there are not enough and/or they may not work properly.    Mitochondrial Disease and Autism I...