The new ABC show "Eli Stone" us under fire from the largest Pediatrician's group in the U.S. due to its portrayal of autism possibly being caused by childhood vaccines.

The autism-vaccine debate continues to rage on in the media these days, and the arguments for and against the connection are as fierce as anything in the medical community's modern history.

The drama, set to debut this Thursday, follows a lawyer who wins a case for the family of an autistic child due to an executive at the vaccine maker not allowing his own child to receive the vaccine in question.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has taken a sharp view of the show and has stated "A television show that perpetuates the myth that vaccines cause autism is the height of reckless irresponsibility on the part of ABC and its parent company, The Walt Disney Co."

And the autism-vaccine debate rages on.

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Autism has been in the media quite a bit in recent years, as the number of confirmed cases seems to have shot up. Now, either cases are really increasing, autism diagnoses are becoming better or more accurate reporting is taking place -- or all three.

It's hard to know if autism is really increasing as a percentage of the population, and everything from food chemical additives to vaccinations have been brought up as possible autism causes. Thimiserol, a mercury-based component in some vaccines, is now gone form them due to a possible link to causing autism.

So, it comes as a little bit of a jolt that scientists are now saying autism occurs due to genetic variations like mutations that are present and then kicked into gear by different environmental variables. Well, I have a feeling many ailments like cancer and diabetes are like this as well, because the powerful witch's brew of genetics and variable lifestyle choices can mix to create, well, you name it. But autism? It's suspected that autism actually lurks in the human genome and can be passed from parents to offspring. But what triggers it in some and not in others? That is still a mystery.

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Autism is consistently receiving media attention recently, and for good reason. Recent CDC numbers have estimated that one in 150 kids now has autism, although the rise can't be tied to new cases versus more recent identification tools for diagnoses.

Regardless, the search for autism causes continues. Two brain cell proteins, called neuroligin-1 and neuroligin-2, have been found recently to strengthen and balance nerve cell connections. Sound important? It is, according to a team studying autism at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

It was found that one of these proteins excite nerve cells while the other slows down nerve cell activity. As such, mutations and changes in these proteins is being correlated to certain forms of autism, and a deeper understanding of how these proteins react normally and abnormally could be essential to seeing why some kids end up with autistic qualities (or more).

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There's been a lot of focus on autism causes lately in the wake of the CDC concluding that one in every 150 kids will be autistic. While there's certainly room for debate on what the rapid rise in causes could be, one study believes that it's not being caused by a component of toxic mercury.

I'd still like to know if autism is now being diagnosed more correctly (in higher quantities) and what all other variable measurements there are to why a sudden increase in the last decade and a half.

Thimerosal, a preservative made with mercury, has not been found to be a cause of autism, according to recent research. Does that mean anything with mercury in it does not cause autism? The jury will be out for a while on that I would think.

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