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Thursday, May 11, 2017

What makes a gene an autism candidate? Not everyone agrees

Novelty is a slippery concept in genetics: Literally, it simply means that a gene’s connection to a certain condition has never previously been noted. But many researchers say that being first to implicate a gene isn’t enough. Genes also must pass a stringent statistical bar to become candidates, or they remain merely curiosities.
In autism, this issue has come to the fore in the past few months.