Genetic sequencing data from a large cohort of Latin American individuals showed that the genes that are significantly associated with the risk of autism extensively overlapped with those found in genome-wide sequencing studies in people of predominantly European ancestry.
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References
Fu, J. M. et al. Rare coding variation provides insight into the genetic architecture and phenotypic context of autism. Nat. Genet. 54, 1320–1331 (2022). This is the most recent flagship paper from the Autism Sequencing Consortium.
Zhou, X. et al. Integrating de novo and inherited variants in 42,607 autism cases identifies mutations in new moderate-risk genes. Nat. Genet. 54, 1305–1319 (2022). This is the most recent flagship paper from the SPARK (Simons Powering Autism Research) consortium.
Fatumo, S. et al. A roadmap to increase diversity in genomic studies. Nat. Med. 28, 243–250 (2022). A review article on the effect of biased samples in genetic studies and a means to address this issue.
Hou, K. et al. Causal effects on complex traits are similar for common variants across segments of different continental ancestries within admixed individuals. Nat. Genet. 55, 549–558 (2023). This paper shows that genes that present common genetic variants are also likely to be similar across diverse ancestral populations.
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This is a summary of: Avila, M. N. et al. Deleterious coding variation associated with autism is shared across ancestries. Nat. Med. https://doi.org/10.1038/10.1038/s41591-026-04228-6 (2026).
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Genes that increase the risk of autism are shared across ancestries. Nat Med (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-026-04259-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-026-04259-z
