Scientists find cause of autism in 'junk' DNA

Autism can be caused by mutations in the so-called 'junk' DNA, scientists have claimed.The study published in the journal 'Nature Genetics' is the first to functionally link such mutations to the neurodevelopmental condition.The research team led by Olga Troyanskaya used machine learning to analyse the whole genomes of 1,790 individuals with autism and their unaffected parents and siblings. These individuals had no family history of autism, meaning the genetic cause of their condition was probably spontaneous mutations rather than inherited mutations.The analysis predicted the ramifications of genetic mutations in parts of the genome that do not encode proteins, regions often mischaracterised as 'junk' DNA.The number of autism cases linked to the noncoding mutations was comparable to the number of cases linked to protein-coding mutations that disable gene function.The implications of the work extend beyond autism. "This is the first clear demonstration of non-inherited, noncoding ...