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100 Genes May Be Linked to Autism
By Richard | March 16, 2007
100 Genes May Be Linked to Autism | Washington Post
Little glitches in the DNA of people with autism suggest that the disease might be caused by as many as 100 different genes, researchers reported yesterday.
The small changes are not what people usually think of as genetic mutations but are called copy number variations — extra copies or missing stretches of DNA. For instance, one child with Asperger syndrome was missing DNA from a stretch of 27 genes. The findings, reported in today’s issue of the journal Science, suggests that autism spectrum disorder may involve 100 or more genes. The disorder affects one in 150 children.
Researchers in the United States, Finland and Britain scanned the genomes, looking at the DNA of people in 264 families. They found numerous spontaneous mutations in 14 of 195 people with autism spectrum disorders compared with two of 196 unaffected people.
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