AN EXAMINATION OF LOCOMOTIVE BEHAVIOR, GERMLINE PROLIFERATION, AND LIPID CONTENT IN A NOVEL AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER 16P11.2 DELETION CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS MODEL

Due to the phenotypic heterogeneity of human neurodevelopmental disorders, it is often difficult to pin point a diagnosis based on behavior alone. Copy number variations (CNV) in the genome have been thought to be the unidentified component that affects such clinical variation. This study examines one rare (<1%) CNV implicated in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the 16p11.2 recurrent microdeletion. I investigated the individual genes encompassed within this deletion and determined their contributions to the overall phenotypes of motor function, obesity, and embryonic cell line proliferation.