HealthDay (7/21, Preidt) reports that according to a study published July 20 in Nature Genetics, “most of the genetic risk for autism appears to come from common gene variants rather than spontaneous gene mutations.” After studying some 3,000 Swedes without and with autism, researchers “found that about 52 percent of autism was linked to common gene variants and rare inherited variations.” In a news release pertaining to the study, National Institute of Mental Health director Thomas Insel, MD, said, “Common variation may be more important than we thought.”
Related Links:
— “Common Genes Implicated in Autism Study,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 21, 2014.