Recently, an autism study out of Stanford University’s medical school yielded results that challenge long-held beliefs about autism’s origins. The study, centered on 192 sets of twins with autism, and found that sets of fraternal twins had much higher levels of shared autistic similarities than expected. Previously, scientists had assumed that 90 percent of autism risk was tied to genetics, with only 10 percent tied to environmental risks.
Fraternal twins only share half of their genetic material, while identical twins share all their genes, but the findings from the research did not back up the assumed percentages. The high levels of similarities in fraternal twins led doctors and researchers to conclude that environmental factors, not just genetics, may put people at risk for autism.
According to the co-author of the study, doctors and scientists should focus future research on events during pregnancy to understand autism’s origins. The researchers in the study did not outline the specific environmental risk factors, but they could include:
- Parental age at the time of the child’s birth
- Low birth weight
- Maternal infections during pregnancy
This new research further proves a fact that most scientists have already accepted: that there is no single factor that leads to autism. Even more, genetics may not play as great a role in causing autism as we previously thought.
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