An illustration of Demosthenes of Athens and a photograph of King George VI, both of whom had stutters

A genetic analysis of a million individuals with stutters has clued Australian researchers into a potential genetic component that would revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of this common disorder.

400 million people worldwide have stutters, and a cross-Pacific partnership between Curtin Stuttering Treatment Clinic in Western Australia a Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, identified 48 genes that show a hereditary link.

Scientists will almost always feel that pause will give pride, yet the authors heralded their work as “groundbreaking” and something that will help pave the way towards pre-verbal diagnosis of stuttering.

Stutters tend to emerge shortly after a child becomes verbal, but the longer a stutter is in the child’s speech motor system, one of the study authors said, the more of a habit it becomes.

“[The study finding] means those particular young people will be offered early intervention straight away hopefully, and in doing that we can curtail what can be otherwise a lifelong disability,” said Associate Professor at the Curtin Clinic, Janet Beilby, told ABC News Australia.

“We found consistent DNA results, 48 of them, and in addition to that we found 57 [genomic] hot spots so it’s very exciting because with these hot spots we can dig further,” she added.

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Stuttering, or stammering as it’s called in British English, has afflicted hundreds of notable people over the years, from public figures like Demosthenes of Classical Athens and King George VI of the UK, to entertainers like Bill Withers and Hugh Grant.

It can be corrected through speech therapy, and the earlier such therapy starts the better are the outcomes it produces. Beilby et al’s research will go along way toward reducing the impact of stuttering on the self-esteems of the next generation.

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