SINGAPORE – Treating autism might be as simple as getting a jab in the near future, as Chinese scientists have reached a significant milestone during preliminary tests on mice.

The injection was able to undo the signs of autism by correcting mutant versions of a gene in the mice’s brains, the researchers said in their paper, which was published in the Nature Neuroscience Journal on Nov 27.

The mutated version of the MEF2C gene is found in patients who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), said the researchers, who hail from various academic and medical institutions in Shanghai.

According to the United States’ Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1 per cent of the world’s population has ASD.

People with autism may have difficulties interacting and communicating with others or may exhibit repetitive behaviours and intense interests caused by MEF2C mutations, which have also been linked to other neurological disorders such as epilepsy.

While there are medicines that can be prescribed to help the behaviour in ASD patients, there is no known cure for the disorder.

The paper said: “The treatment fully restored MEF2C protein levels in several brain regions and reversed the behavioural abnormalities in MEF2C-mutant mice” that had previously exhibited problems with social interaction and repetitive behaviour.

The treatment was administered to the mice through an injection into a tail vein, and the mice were observed several weeks later.

“Individualised gene editing therapy could become feasible and affordable for patients in the near future,” the paper said, adding that this potentially opens the way for similar treatments to be developed for patients suffering from other genetic neurodevelopmental disorders.