Two of the largest analyses of DNA sequences from people with autism have uncovered genes tied to the condition through a range of variant types. The work, published in two studies today in Nature Genetics, provides a more comprehensive picture of the condition’s genetic architecture and hints at how it may differ from that of other neurodevelopmental conditions.
Scientists typically hunt for de novo variants in sequences to spot autism-linked genes—an approach that has yielded roughly 100 genes. But alterations in these genes tend to have global effects on cognition and brain function, and people who carry them often represent only one portion of the autism spectrum.
“I think we’ve been biased in terms of the genes that we’ve identified,” says Wendy Chung, professor of pediatrics and medicine at Columbia University, who co-led one of the studies. To better understand the biology underlying brain function, behavior and autism, researchers have ...
