Stuttering Update

Stuttering may be linked to genetic defects in basic metabolic process.
USA Today (2/11, Rubin) reports that researchers at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders "for the first time have identified genetic variations associated with stuttering, and the study's senior author says his team was 'kind of shocked' that two of the implicated genes were linked to rare, fatal metabolic disorders." In other words, the "genes are extremely well-known and studied by people who have been in this field for decades," Dennis Drayna explained.
According to the Los Angeles Times (2/11, Maugh), the research could eventually "help identify children who are likely to develop stuttering problems, allowing early initiation of treatments that can minimize or eliminate the problem." Still "further in the future, it could lead to new treatments to overcome the biological underpinnings of the disorder."
For years, "stuttering has been attributed to such things as nervousness, lack of intelligence, stress, or bad parenting," according to the AP (2/11, Nano). Indeed, "stuttering tends to run in families, and previous research suggested a genetic connection." But, "researchers had not been able to pinpoint any culprit genes."