Autism Genes Are Surprisingly Large
Enzymes called topoisomerases are crucial for the expression of extremely long genes in neurons, according to a study published 5 September inNature. More than one-quarter of these genes are known autism candidates, the study found.
In the process of doing these analyses, the researchers stumbled on something surprising about autism genes in general: They're three to four times longer than the average gene expressed in neurons.
"It's pretty remarkable that, at least to my knowledge, no one had noticed this before," notes Benjamin Philpot, associate professor of cell biology and physiology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and one of the study's leaders. "But the genes are definitely much longer. It's very striking."
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