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.
Rare inherited mutations may contribute to autism in roughly 10 percent of boys with the disorder, according to a study published 11 May in Nature Genetics. These genetic glitches are primarily passed down from unaffected mothers.
Children who are diagnosed with autism after drastically and suddenly losing cognitive abilities may actually have a distinct disorder, according to data presented yesterday at the 2015 International Meeting for Autism Research in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Peer review panels really can suss out good science, and clinical trials could get extremely personal.
Watch the complete replay of Kathryn Roeder’s webinar discussing how powerful statistical tools can yield insight into the genetic risk for autism.
Less than one-third of sibling pairs with autism who carry rare mutations in autism-linked genes share those mutations, according to the largest study yet to sequence whole genomes of people with the disorder. The study questions the assumption that autism’s risk factors run in families, but some experts are skeptical.
It’s no easy feat to whittle down the list of the most influential autism papers to a mere 10. So please consider this but a taste of the burgeoning field, presented in chronological order and based on suggestions from many researchers.
This year was full of big headlines in autism research. But the biggest stories aren’t necessarily the best — here are some gems you may have missed over the year.
A new computational approach predicts how sequence variations in both the coding and noncoding regions of a gene affect the gene’s expression. The method, described today in Science, may help researchers understand how specific variants contribute to disorders such as autism.
Getting to a diagnosis of autism or another neurodevelopmental disorder is a long and frustrating experience for some families — especially when it comes to finding the underlying genetic cause. DNA sequencing could ease this arduous journey.