Idea for people to investigate the causes of autism

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kug321
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12 Apr 2015, 8:43 pm

I remembered years ago I read this web page: http://www.rdos.net/eng/asperger.htm

Basically he developed the hypothesis that a cause of autism is that it comes from Neanderthal DNA. A few years ago it was confirmed that humans did mate with Neanderthals.

There is a DNA testing service called 23andme (https://www.23andme.com), and for $99, you order a kit which they send you. You spit in a container and then send it back to them. They will analyze your DNA and put your results in your account on their website. It will tell you numerous things about your DNA like your ancestry, your chances of developing certain diseases, etc.

It also tells you the % of Neanderthal DNA that you have, which does differ between individuals.

I was wondering, what if wrongplanet users did the testing and then reported here what % they have?

If it shows that we have a higher % of Neanderthal DNA than the average person then maybe it would be evidence that a cause of autism is the part of our DNA that came from Neanderthals.



GoofyGreatDane
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13 Apr 2015, 2:56 pm

I don't think that neanderthal DNA is the cause of autism. Neanderthals had 100 percent neanderthal DNA and they weren't all low functioning autistic. Neanderthal DNA doesn't just appear in an individual if it is not in the parents- yet so often autism does. There are mutations in specific genes that have been found to explain some cases of autism- with no specific genetic abnormality underlying most autism cases.