Jonathan Sebat News Today

This week, we’re bringing you some labors of love: a thread lamenting the autism field’s focus on gene lists, a study introducing genetic diversity in mouse models, and long-awaited results from a biomarker study.

Takeaways from two team-ups titillated Twitter this week — one on the effects of mutations in the PAX5 gene and one linking rare genetic mutations to a large number of diseases and traits. Plus a primer on dopamine with facts about dopamine fasting.

Siblings of autistic females are more likely to have autism than siblings of autistic males are, and mothers of autistic children carry more common, autism-linked variants than fathers do.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is referred to as a "spectrum" because clinical features of ASD range from mild social impairments in some people to severe intellectual disability or epilepsy in others.

Genetic factors influence the severity of symptoms in children on the autism spectrum, and different genetic factors were associated with different symptoms of ASD.

One in 15 men are likely to carry mutations that could adversely affect their offspring.