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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: sequencing

November 2011

PRICKLE2 is new autism candidate gene, group says

by  /  10 November 2011

After analyzing the brains and behaviors of mutant mice and screening genes in people with autism, researchers have pinpointed what they say is a new autism candidate gene: PRICKLE2. The unpublished work was presented Thursday in Washington, D.C.

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Researchers map genetic variation in mice

by  /  9 November 2011

Researchers have sequenced 17 laboratory mice and mapped 56.7 million single-base DNA variants in their genomes, according to a study published 15 September in Nature. A companion paper in the same issue identifies more than 700,000 structural variants, which are insertions, deletions or other modifications of DNA.

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Sequencing technique optimal for postmortem brains

by  /  2 November 2011

A technique for detecting gene expression that detects short RNA messages is better suited than traditional methods for analyzing postmortem brain tissue, according to a study published 10 September in BMC Genomics.

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October 2011

Genetics: Large analysis pins down schizophrenia regions

by  /  26 October 2011

A massive association study links five new genetic regions to schizophrenia and implicates MIR137, a regulatory RNA that plays a role in neuron development, in the disorder.

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September 2011

Brain activity triggers widespread epigenetic changes

by  /  26 September 2011

Methylation marks were thought to be permanent features of the genome, but a new study challenges that idea.

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Model systems

by  /  23 September 2011

The more we find out about human genetics, the more valuable model organisms are likely to become, say autism researchers.  

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Researchers map gene expression in layers of mouse brain

by  /  16 September 2011

A new atlas of gene expression patterns in the adult mouse brain shows how thousands of genes are turned on in specific layers of the cortex.

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Ambitious U.K. project set to sequence 10,000 genomes

by  /  15 September 2011

The largest and most ambitious genome-sequencing project to date aims to identify rare variants and study their association to disease traits in 10,000 people.

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Reference set for Prader-Willi, Angelman syndromes debuts

by  /  14 September 2011

Researchers have developed standard genetic reference samples that clinicians can use to diagnose Angelman and Prader-Willi syndromes, two disorders associated with the same chromosomal region.

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New mutations spike in offspring of older fathers

by  /  12 September 2011

The offspring of older male mice are 16 times more likely to harbor a spontaneous copy number variation — a deletion or duplication of genetic material — than are the offspring of young males, according to a new study.

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