August 2026 – ASF Weekly Science Podcasts

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This week we talk to Drs. Steve Scherer, Lisa Bradley and Graham Collingridge who recently published research that shows the gene PTCHD1-AS influences social functioning in humans and mice, without influencing intellectual deficits. This is the newest data that shows a single gene can control social communication and not some of the other comorbid features of ASD. They review the data around genetic influences in autism, why the knowledge of the role of genes in autism has exploded in the past decade, evidence that specific genes lead to an autism diagnosis, and more specifically, what this gene does in the brain and why it took so long to identify it.

Here is the article: open access! https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10515-6

Need a genetic test? Here are some resources:

www.startgenetic.com

Genetic Testing

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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.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42230772

Month: August 2026

Calculating a gene x environment interaction in autism