Autistic Consumer Audit of UC Davis MIND Institute’s Mutant Angelman Mice and Their Translational Value Toward the Human Autistic Experience

Abstract

On March 10, 2022, six researchers in affiliation with the UC Davis MIND Institute published a mouse gait study in the Autism Research journal, the official journal of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR). Our team of Autistic scientists set about conducting this consumer audit to evaluate any conflict(s) of interest between the study topic, choice of journal publication, and grant award agenda. To evaluate the impact factor of translational research, we investigated the researchers’ strident claims that genetically modified mutant Angelman syndrome mice (“AS mice models”) may contribute to the advancement of discoveries of behavioral and cognitive abnormalities in intellectually disabled and developmentally disabled (ID/DD) people, such as Autistics. As a result of our exhaustive review of both broad and narrow claims, a full retraction request is made in our recommendation to the publishers of the Autism Research journal, John Wiley & Sons. In conclusion, we strongly recommend that speculative claims about rodent models and translational research for Autism should not be considered meritorious of funding from the National Institutes of Health. Our grassroots initiative is aimed at ameliorating the damaging stereotypes within the medical pathology paradigm under which Autistic people are studied as abnormal human variants under the disease model. Finally, we ask that UC Davis’ MIND Institute cease and desist all rodent model research with the aims of investigating the pathogenic mechanism that is presumed to be underlying Autistic behavioral expression.