Identifying Autism Loci and Genes by Tracing Recent Shared Ancestry. Science 321(5886): 218-23.

Introduction

This article begins with a discussion of autism spectrum disorders and the social and mental impairments that typify the disorder, setting up an approach that is inherently humanistic and person-centered. Despite the highly technical and quantified nature of the ultimate research question and data collected and analyzed in this study, this person-centered focus and tone is observable throughout this research article. Immediately following a brief description of the impacts of autism spectrum disorders on individuals that have these disorders, the authors launch into a discussion regarding the evidence for a hereditary pattern in the development of the disorder and the ability to trace the disorder and its impact through families.

The authors follow this with a discussion about one of the general methodologies they ultimately employ in this research, known as "homozygosity mapping," which essentially is...
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