Study: Siblings with autism don't share genetic mutations
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The largest autism genome sequencing has produced an unexpected finding: Siblings with autism only share the same genes 31 percent of the time, according to a study published Monday in Nature Medicine.
A third of the relevant mutations seemed random to researchers. Lead investigator Stephen Scherer, who runs an applied genomics center at Toronto's Hospital For Sick Children, suggests "autisms" is a more accurate name than "autism."
For some families, "it’s like lightning striking twice in the same family," Scherer told The Los Angeles Times.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
