From the UC Davis MIND Institute earlier this week: "A study...has found that pregnant women with a particular gene variation are more likely to produce autoantibodies to the brains of their developing fetuses and that the children of these mothers are at greater risk of later being diagnosed with autism." Also mentioned: "...

In a study scheduled to appear in print in July in the journal Epidemiology regarding Prenatal Vitamins, researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute found that "mothers who took the vitamins prenatally or during the first month of pregnancy were only half as likely to have a child with autism as those who didn't...The researchers also found strong associations with two gene mutations that had previously been linked to autism risk."

By mutating the Shank3 gene in mice, researchers at MIT and Duke have produced compulsive and repetitive behaviors along with avoidance of social interaction. As these are common traits of individuals with Autism, the researchers are hopeful that the new information gained from this study will help guide future treatments and drugs for humans with Autism.

ScienceDaily — "New research on the genomics of autism confirms that the genetic roots of the disorder are highly complicated, but that common biological themes underlie this complexity."

ScienceDaily summarizes findings of a new study published this week in Molecular Psychiatry which examined how gene alterations and gene variants relate to brain development and nerve signaling in mice models.

In a study of 277 families with twins it was found that identical twins were at an 88% higher rate of developing. Fraternal twin families experienced a much lower percentage of autism diagnosis at 31%. Identical twins were also found to have more similarities in their type of autism.

Findings released recently by the University of Aberdeen may give credible supporting evidence of a genetic link to autism. Disruptions to the EIF4E gene were discovered with new technology that allows a deeper look into genetic mapping.

Released today is a report in the journal Nature detailing a recent study, the largest of its kind, that show that many people with autism share a common genetic variation. This study compared the genomes of thousands affected by the disorder. New technology made this discovery, that has long been theorized, possible, giving a lot of credible evidence.

MIT researchers believe and have shown that multiple genetic risk factors may influence development and the severity of autistic symptoms. This has strengthened their belief that multiple genes play a key role in the origin of autism and could lead to the development of drugs for treatment that target both signaling mechanisms in the brain.