Link:Middle Eastern Families Help Scientists Pinpoint Autism Genes.

The hunt for gene mutations that contribute to autism has proceeded slowly, largely because autism encompasses a spectrum of diseases. Just as its symptoms vary widely among individuals, so do the genetic mutations that cause them.

Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Christopher Walsh, in collaboration with scientists and physicians in the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Kuwait, has used a new strategy to identify six genes that, when mutated, contribute to autism. By focusing on large families in which both parents share a recent ancestor, Walsh and his colleagues were able to hone in on rare mutations that had remained elusive in previous studies

interesting research