Résumé
Autism is genetically complex, but several conditions within the autistic spectrum are monogenic and therefore potentially more straight forward to understand. An example is Rett syndrome, a profound disorder that is caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene. MeCP2 protein is thought to interpret the "epigenetic" DNA methylation mark to affect gene expression, but exactly why Joss of this function should affect the brain is the subject of intensive investigation. Current efforts to address this issue will be discussed.