Microdeletion Identified In Autistic Patients

A microdeletion of 593 kb on chromosome 16p11.2 was identified in a group of families with autism (the Autism Genetic Research Exchange). The same deletion was found in 5 of 512 patients referred to Children's Hospital in Boston and 3 of 299 persons with autism in an Icelandic population. The report states that the microdeletion and its reciprocal microreplication may account for 1% of autism cases. See the report in the January 9th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.