"Autistic Children May Inherit DNA Mutations From Their Fathers" - Matt Warren
There is no one gene that, when mutated, causes autism. But over the past decade, researchers have identified hundreds of gene variations that seem to affect brain development in ways that increase the risk of autism. A new study probing so-called noncoding DNA has found that alterations in regions that regulate gene activity may also contribute to autism. And surprisingly, these variations tended to be inherited from fathers who aren’t autistic. Dalila Pinto, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, genetics and genomic sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said the study provides “very insightful preliminary findings.” She said she will be interested to see whether the results are replicated in even larger genome databases—and whether additional variants will be identified.
- Dalila C. Pinto, PhD, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai