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From: Tom Weidig (thestutteringbrain.blogspot.com)
Date: 13 Oct 2009
Time: 05:03:24 -0500
Remote Name: 88.207.200.14
Sorry, I am not on the panel, but I didn't like Scott's vague answer! Stuttering runs in families because those families have a genetic predisposition, which means that some genes in their DNA increases the probabilty of or causes the occurence of stuttering. A predisposition typically starts in one ancestor because some gene(s) in the DNA mutate(s) (changes) leading to such a predisposition. And this mutant gene(s) travel along the generations. Mutation is a natural process which drives Darwinian evolution, because it allows organisms to evolve from simple replicating molecules to complex organisms like ourselves. Dr Drayna is the genetics expert in stuttering, and can give you a more detailed answer. He studied such stuttering families in order to find the responsible gene(s). Best wishes, Tom