Recent research conducted by California Institute of Technology suggests that Autism may be linked to a stomach bacteria. Autism, which has been one of the most debated disorders within the last decade or so, may not only be curable; it may be curable with something as simple as a probiotic.

The autism debate has been one with many sides. In recent years some researchers have suggested that the disorder may be caused by vaccination, to which other researchers expressed opposing opinions by proving that such connection is impossible. Others suggest autism is not a disorder; it is merely a different way of social interaction -- and that treating autism as something wrong rather than different than most is offensive.

The answer to autism is now more demanded than it's ever been. Nearly 60 years after the disorder was first identified, the United Nations estimates that up to 70 million people worldwide fall under the extremely wide and barely understood spectrum of autism.

Scientists may have finally reached promising answers. Their research shows that there are striking differences between the microbiome -- or the collection of trillions of bactearia -- in the guts of autistic individuals in comparison to non-autistics.

The link between autism and gut bacteria was found when researchers alleviated autism-like behaviors in mice using probiotics.

Researcher Elaine Hsiao engineered mice based on earlier research that showed women who get the flu during pregnancy are far more likely to give birth to an autistic child.

According to ozy.com, "Hsiao analyzed the mice's blood. The blood of 'autistic' mice contained a whopping 46 times more 4EPS, a molecule produced by gut bacteria, thought to have seeped from their intestines. What's more, injecting healthy mice with 4EPS made them more anxious. A similar molecule has been detected at elevated levels in autistic patients."

To treat the gut infection, Hsiao laced the animals' food with B. Fragitis, a probiotic shown to treat GI problems in mice.

The results were amazing: The mice showed significant improvement behaviorally -- they were less anxious, more vocal and less obsessive with their burying behaviors.

With these results alone, it's hard to conclude a solid answer to whether autism is without a doubt connected to gut bacteria or not. Only with a clinical trial can we conclude that such treatment will 'cure' human subjects of autism.

Even with unsure results in humans, it's important that we continue our research in this direction. If researchers bring such studies to a solid conclusion, we may be able to cure a mysterious disorder that millions of children, teens and adults struggle with every day with something as simple as a probiotic. All arguments aside, what needs to be addressed here is not who is right but who will make the lives of autistic people better.