Check out this new dyslexia research on Science Daily. On June 21, researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden discovered that DCDC2, one of the many genes linked to dyslexia, has a very unusual and previously unknown function: it regulates the cilia, or antenna-like projections, that cells use to communicate.

During a process called migration, the nerve cells of a developing embryo are moved to their correct location in the brain. The cilia are responsible for migration, and DCDC2 governs their length and signal activation abilities. Therefore, when the DCDC2 gene is affected, so too are the ciliated cells for which it controls, leading to disruptions in intercellular communication.