DNA sequences called enhancers — which boost the expression of genes from within or outside them — are enriched for genetic variants linked to autism, suggests a new study. The finding may help researchers understand how variants outside genes contribute to autism.

By mapping the connections between autism genes, researchers are finding clues to the disorder’s origins. The key, they say, is to begin without bias.

Researchers have identified a noncoding RNA, a genetic message that is not translated into a protein, that may be involved in autism. The discovery, published 4 April in Science Translational Medicine, came from examining a region on chromosome 5 that has been previously linked to the disorder.

Researchers have mapped networks of genes expressed at the same time and place in the brain and shown that rare and common autism-linked mutations are likely to function in the same pathways. The results were published 8 March in PLoS Genetics.

A genetic database of autism genes, called Autism Database, or AutDB, details curated information for more than 200 mouse models of autism, according to a report in the January BMC Genomics.