Worms, despite their crude nervous system, can be useful models of the genetic underpinnings of autism, according to unpublished work presented today at a meeting of the Genetics Society of America in Boston.Worms that lack neuroligin have been shown to have a range of sensory problems and are hypersensitive to an herbicide that triggers oxidative stress. Researchers reported today that inserting neuroligin4 — a human version of the gene that has been linked to autism — into the mutant worms reverses these abnormalities."One of the reasons for studying model organisms is you figure they will mirror the biology you find in a human," says lead investigator James Rand, chair of the Genetic Models of Disease Research Program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. "If the human neuroligin protein can deal with oxidative stress in a worm, then presumably it can deal with the oxidative stress problem in a human as well."Read more at...SFARI, June 2010.