Risky DNA: Autism studies yield fresh genetic leads

As scientists inch closer to unraveling autism’s causes, this perplexing developmental condition increasingly shows its diverse roots. Consider two new genetic investigations.

One finds that spontaneous alterations to a tiny stretch of chromosome 16 contribute to about 1 percent of childhood autism cases. Either a deletion or a duplication of this DNA section raises a child’s susceptibility to autism and related disorders, report geneticist Mark J.