Scientists Implicate More Than 100 Genes in Causing Autism http://n.pr/1DxpB4d 

Scientists Implicate More Than 100 Genes In Causing Autism

Spontaneous gene mutations, not ones inherited from parents, increase a child's risk of autism, scientists say. By comparing genes within families they've identified more than 100 suspects.

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Scientists Implicate More Than 100 Genes In Causing Autism

October 29, 2014 by NANCY SHUTE

On Tuesday, researchers at more than 50 laboratories said they had identified more than 100 genes that are mutated in children with autism, dozens more than were known before.
 
These are mutations that crop up spontaneously, not ones that parents pass down to their children. At least 30 percent of autism cases are caused by these spontaneous mutations, according to researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Michael Ronemus, is a researcher at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and an author of one of the studies, which were published Tuesday in Nature.

Girls are less likely to get autism than boys...
 
Ronemus and his colleagues tested the genes of more than 3,000 people — the parents of children with autism, as well as the affected child and an unaffected sibling.  

 

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Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/10/29/359818102/scientists-implicate-more-than-100-genes-in-causing-autism?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=science&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews