Study results released in the Nature Genetics journal demonstrate that autism is more likely to be caused by common genes as opposed to random genetic mutations or environmental factors.
According to CBC News, Scientists evaluated genetic differences amongst 466 individuals with autism and 2,580 typical developing individuals of Swedish decent. Scientists also took a look at the data of thousands of individuals and compare the genes of various family members. Results showed that 50 percent of the risk of becoming autistic lays in common genetic variations, while only 3 percent of the risk is linked to rare genetics and just under 3 percent is due to random mutations of the DNA.
Joseph Buxbaum of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health also stated that while the biggest risk of developing autism comes from family genetics, individuals who have autism usually obtained it from a combination of common genes and random genetic occurrences, according to HealthDay.
The findings are a great success for scientists as they continue to get to the root cause of autism. Several individuals have been affected by the illness; 1 in 68 children in the U.S. have autism according to analysis performed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.