Using Advanced Genetic Techniques, Scientists Create Mice With Traits of Tourette Disorder

In research that may be a step forward toward finding personalized treatments for Tourette disorder, scientists at Rutgers University–New Brunswick have bred mice that exhibit some of the same behaviors and brain abnormalities seen in humans with the disorder. As reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers, using a technique known as CRISPR/Cas9 DNA editing, inserted the same genetic mutations found in humans with Tourette disorder into the corresponding genes in mouse embryos.

Can Strep Throat Make Tics Worse in Kids?

Exposure to the bacteria that causes strep throat does not appear to make Tourette syndrome and other chronic tic disorders worse in children and teens, according to a study published in the February 10, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. However, exposure was associated with increased symptoms of . Previous studies have suggested a possible link between strep infection and tic and behavioral disorders.