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New Tool Predicts Autism Risk Genes

Identifying which genes cause autism is challenging, but a new tool may point researchers in the right direction. Scientists at the Simons Foundation and Princeton University have developed a computational technique that can sift through more than 25,000 genes in the human genome and rank them based on the probability that they are associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The tool identified hundreds of previously unreported candidate autism risk genes, along with networks, cellular functions and developmental stages of the brain that play a role in ASD. The tool could work for almost any complex disease, the authors say in their Nature Neuroscience paper published online August 1.”

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