New study finds shared gene pattern behind autism and a clue to female protection

New study finds shared gene pattern behind autism and a clue to female protection

New study finds shared gene pattern behind autism and a clue to female protection

Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital report in Nature that disrupting different autism-linked genes in human cell models produces a strikingly similar pattern: a whole network of autism-related genes is switched down together. The team calls this transcriptomic convergence, and says it may explain how hundreds of different rare mutations can lead to a similar condition. They also identify the gene ZFX, which is expressed more strongly in females, as a key regulator of that network, offering a possible molecular clue to why autism is diagnosed far less often in females.

Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital report in Nature that disrupting different autism-linked genes in human cell models produces a strikingly similar pattern: a whole network of autism-related genes is switched down together. The team calls this transcriptomic convergence, and says it may explain how hundreds of different rare mutations can lead to a similar condition. They also identify the gene ZFX, which is expressed more strongly in females, as a key regulator of that network, offering a possible molecular clue to why autism is diagnosed far less often in females.

Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital report in Nature that disrupting different autism-linked genes in human cell models produces a strikingly similar pattern: a whole network of autism-related genes is switched down together. The team calls this transcriptomic convergence, and says it may explain how hundreds of different rare mutations can lead to a similar condition. They also identify the gene ZFX, which is expressed more strongly in females, as a key regulator of that network, offering a possible molecular clue to why autism is diagnosed far less often in females.