Whole Genome Study of Asperger Syndrome Project

Ian Craig, Bhismadev Chakrabarti, Simon Baron-Cohen, Carrie Allison, Allen Chan, and Laura Murphy.

This study is using the method of whole genome association to analyse DNA from 200 individuals with Asperger Syndrome and 200 controls. There has only been one study of the genetics of Asperger Syndrome, which was a linkage study, and which therefore did not test for group differences at the level of the gene. This study will test 500,000 SNPs using the Affimetrix SNP-chip to test which SNPs are more frequent in those with a diagnosis than those without. This also serves as a replication study for our candidate gene association study.

This study is a collaboration with the Institute of Psychiatry, as the method of whole genome association has been used before by Professor Ian Craig's group, and he is our collaborator on this study.