China, US collaborate on autism genome research

Shenzhen (CNS) -- Chinese and American scientific institutes announced on Tuesday that they are cooperating on a worldwide study of 10,000 autistic patients from 2,000 families.

The Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), the One Foundation and Autism Speaks plan to finish sequencing and analysis of autism genome samples to find out exactly what causes one of the largest health threats to children around the globe.

Hopefully, the findings can be applied to early stage clinical diagnoses and prenatal screening, and contribute to physiopathological explanations and effective treatment for the disease, according to BGI spokesperson Yang Bicheng.

The project has gained support from Duke University, Pittsburgh University, Toronto University, the Beijing Institutes of Life Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Xiangya School of Medicine under Central South University, and the Children's Hospital of Fudan University.