Most of the genetic risk for autism appears to come from common gene variants rather than spontaneous gene mutations, according to a new study.

Researchers compared about 3,000 people in Sweden with and without autism and found that about 52 percent of autism was linked to common gene variants and rare inherited variations. Spontaneous genetic mutations accounted for only 2.6 percent of autism risk.

The investigators also found that genetics seem to play a stronger role in autism risk than environmental factors, according to the study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The study, which the researchers said was the largest of its kind to date, was published in the July 20 issue of the journal Nature Genetics.

"From this study, we can see that genetics plays a major role in the development of autism compared to environmental risk factors, making autism more like height than we thought -- many small risk factors add up, each pushing a person further out on the spectrum," co-lead investigator Kathryn Roeder, professor of statistics and computational biology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said in a university news release.

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New research shows that 1 out of 68 children in the U.S. is afflicted with some form of autism - up 30 percent from two years ago. Lesley Stahl o...

Autism spectrum disorders describe a range of developmental disabilities that can cause social, communication and behavioral difficulties. About 1 in 68 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.

"Genetic variation likely accounts for roughly 60 percent of the liability for autism, with common variants comprising the bulk of its genetic architecture," co-lead investigator Joseph Buxbaum, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, said in a news release from the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

"Although each exerts just a tiny effect individually, these common variations in the genetic code add up to substantial impact, taken together," explained Buxbaum.

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Autism risk linked to common gene variants

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