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Many cases of autism appear to arise spontaneously. This could reflect exposure to an environmental agent (infectious, toxic, or other), a mutation in the germ cells of a parent, or both causative factors. Three teams independently studied 549 families in which one child, but neither the parents nor any siblings, suffered from autism.
Each research team determined the sequence of every gene in each individual — the autistic child, the parents, and some unaffected siblings — a feat made possible by the advent of rapid gene sequencing techniques (JW Gen Med Dec 30 2005). All three groups independently found very strong evidence that the autistic children had mutations in at least three specific genes. A number of other genes also were incrimin…