Short Wave Have a Stutter? It Could Be Inherited
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Sep 3, 2025 Piper Bilo, a geneticist at Vanderbilt University, dives into groundbreaking research linking stuttering to specific genetic factors. She and her team identified 57 genetic regions associated with the condition. This research challenges traditional views and highlights hereditary traits in families. The discussion reveals intriguing connections between stuttering and other traits, like musicality, and explores the genetic correlations with mental health issues. Additionally, they touch on the different recovery rates in boys and girls, advocating for personalized approaches to treatment.
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Personal Journey Into Stuttering Research
- Dillon Pruett began stuttering around age three and received speech therapy through elementary school.
- His personal experience motivated him to study stuttering genetics in college and beyond.
Family Clustering Suggests Genetic Roots
- Stuttering clusters in families, suggesting hereditary factors rather than only shared environment.
- The team aimed to pinpoint specific genes and variants contributing to that familial clustering.
23andMe Survey Enabled Large-Scale Study
- The team needed a huge dataset linking self-reported stuttering to genetics to find small-effect variants.
- They discovered a usable survey question inside 23andMe's research data to scale the study.