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In recognition of epilepsy awareness month, this week we are interviewing Jill Silverman and Nycole Copping from UC Davis who published a paper looking at the causes and consequences of seizures across 3 different strains of mice, which are identical all but their background genetics. This is important because new animal models of autism are built upon these different background strains, but very little work has been done to really understand how these different tiny changes in genetic background influences response to an environmental factor. In this study the environmental factor was a drug that produces seizures. Two out of the three strains showed seizures and all three showed some behavioral after-effects of the seizure – inducing drug. Therefore, differences in background genetics influenced the outcome of the mice, an effect that is rarely studied. The authors point out what these behaviors are, what they mean, and why animal models are important for understanding ASD and seizures.