Gene change speaks to language malady
By Bruce Bower
An unprecedented genetic find has emerged from an extended British family in which more than half the members display a severe speech and language disorder. Scientists have now identified a genetic mutation that lies at the root of this family’s communication breakdown.
This is the first gene implicated in people’s capability to talk and to understand language, according to a team led by geneticist Cecilia S.L. Lai of the University of Oxford in England. She and her colleagues describe their discovery in the Oct. 4 Nature.