Finding specific genes that cause autism: a combination of approaches will be needed to maximize power.
Although autism is clearly inherited, it may be challenging to find the genes involved: The mechanism of inheritance is unknown, families with an autistic child are usually small, parent-child pairs are rare, and a fairly large number of genes may be involved, some or all of which may have a small effect on the phenotype. We discuss several strategies for finding genes, all of which may be used in combination to find the relevant genes.
Folstein
S E
SE
Department of Psychiatry, New England Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Bisson
E
E
Santangelo
S L
SL
Piven
J
J
D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000235:genetics*; D005190:Family; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D012107:Research Design
D005819:Genetic Markers