A Novel Epigenetic Saliva Test for Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder In Children

Quadrant Biosciences in collaboration with SUNY Upstate Medical University research team and Penn State College of Medicine research team to work on Clarifi ASD ™. This groundbreaking invention uses regulatory RNAs and microbes found in human saliva. To date, Clarifi ASD is the first-ever product that is launched by the Epigenetic Diagnostic Platform of this company.

It took more than seven years of extensive research to create Clarifi ASD. The research teams from the collaborative institutes i.e. SUNY Upstate Medical University and Penn State College of Medicine worked together to make it happen. 

Dr. Steve Hicks, a researcher for this diagnostic test from Penn State Hershey Medical Center shares that current research explains a link between autism genes and the environment at an epigenetic level. He further added that his team has used a ‘poly-omic’ RNA-based method that mixes into metagenomic methods to differentiate children with autism. This diagnosis is so accurate that it is able to distinguish autism from other developmental delays in children and hence gives a correct diagnosis.

In the USA alone,1 in 59 children is diagnosed with autism every year. This figure shows a 10 times increase in autism prevalence in the last 40 years and probably, right now, this is the highest incidence rate ever. One of the biggest reasons for this high rate of autism is that specialists are less in number.

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While diagnosing autism in all suspects, it takes a long waiting time for the affected children to receive an autism evaluation. Surprisingly, autism can be diagnosed in 18 months old infants but still, the average age of autism diagnosis in the USA is 4 years. Early diagnosis is rarely made, however, an early diagnoses increase the chances of getting intensive behavioral therapy as soon as possible and improve autism in young kids.

Richard Uhlig, the founder, and CEO of Quadrant Biosciences shares that his company is on a mission to improve autism diagnosis and reduce the average age of this diagnosis from four years old to the second year of age. This new test would be used in addition to the standard procedures to diagnose autism who show signs of autism. It is possible to determine the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children within a few weeks, using this test.

He further adds that the research leading to this innovation is mainly funded by the “National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)” and the “American Academy of Pediatrics”. Quadrant Biosciences is a famous name in epigenetic diagnostic testing. Through its extensive research solutions, it is able to introduce new diagnostic tests for autism, concussion injuries, and Parkinson’s disease.

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Healthcare providers can start using “Clarifi ASD™” to make early diagnosis possible and facilitate young patients with behavioral therapy. Hence, this test is able to identify children screen positive for autism would increase the chances of their complete recovery along with the right treatment plans.