The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (10/30, Smeltz) reports that according to two studies published online Oct. 29 in the journal Nature and funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Simons Foundation, “small variations in as many as 1,000 human genes could contribute to the risk of autism.” After analyzing “14,000 genetic samples collected from” children with autism, the youngsters’ parents, and other individuals over the past 15 years, researchers “used the data to count at least 33 genes that have definitive links to autism.”
The San Jose (CA) Mercury News (10/30, Krieger) reports that investigators found that 60 genes “met a ‘high-confidence’ threshold, indicating that there is a greater than 90 percent chance that mutations in those genes contribute to” the risk for autism. According to the Mercury News, “The finding that autism can result from mutations in so many genes suggests that it is not a single condition, but rather an umbrella term for patients with similar sets of conditions.”
Related Links:
— “CMU, Pitt researchers help identify genes that contribute to autism,” Adam Smeltz, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 29, 2014.