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Traditionally, scientists have been able to calculate the role of genes in autism, or the environment in autism. However, understanding the role of genes together with the environment, or the effects of the environment with a genetic background, has been very difficult. This is especially true with polygenic genetic risk factors, which is not a single gene but a combination of multiple genetic influences. Different environmental factors might be good candidates for testing because some of them are more accurately measured than others.
This week, we talk to Drs. Nilanjan Chatterjee and Christine Ladd Acosta both from Johns Hopkins University, who have tested and validated a new method to calculate the risk of not just genetics, or the environment but the two working together. They describe some of the factors they studied and why, and how this model can be used for further research questions.