Heritability of social behavioral phenotypes and preliminary associations with autism spectrum disorder risk genes in rhesus macaques: A whole exome sequencing study.
Chris Gunter, R Alan Harris, Zsofia Kovacs-Balint and 6 others
PMID 35092647WHAT IT FOUND
Social behaviors in juvenile macaques are highly heritable.
Preliminary genetic links were found between specific variants in autism-risk genes and traits like poor motor coordination and atypical reactions to loss of resources.
Key findings
01Twenty social behaviors showed significant heritability in juvenile macaques.
02Variants in genes associated with human autism risk were preliminarily linked to specific behavioral factors in macaques.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study used a relatively small sample size for genetic analysis, resulting in wide confidence intervals and low power to detect small effects. The animals are non-human primates; while they share genetic and social similarities with humans, they do not manifest autism spectrum disorder. The study focused on only 143 pre-selected genes, so it could not identify variants in other parts of the genome. Social dominance rank was categorized into broad groups, which may not have fully accounted for subtle environmental influences on behavior.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Center for Research Resources. The authors declared no competing financial interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these findings as evidence that these specific genetic variants cause autism in humans. The study identifies preliminary associations in a small animal model, and the behaviors measured are not a diagnosis of ASD.