http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/3489/dna-sweep-reveals-new-autism-genes

“ DNA sweep reveals new autism genes
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Agence France-Presse

Duplicated or missing pieces of DNA in a number of genes can contribute to the autism spectrum disorders.

PARIS: A consortium of hundreds of scientists said they had uncovered dozens of previously unknown genetic mutations that contribute to autism in children.

Some of these rare DNA glitches are inherited from parents. But many, the researchers discovered, arise for the first time in the person with autism.

“This suggests that tiny genetic errors may occur during formation of the parents’ eggs and sperm, and these variations are copied during creation of their child’s DNA,” said co-author Daniel Geschwind, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

DNA sequence of 1,000 autistic kids

… “

“ IN FOCUS: The evolution of a science story
This week, British newspaper The Guardian, has decided to try a new way of reporting science stories. Instead of publishing a single story on a discovery and then moving on to the next one, they are tracking how a science story evolves over time.

The story in question is a paper published this week in the journal Nature, which has been published in full online: “Functional impact of global rare copy number variation in autism spectrum disorders”. (For those of you wondering what on Earth the Nature title may be hinting at, the news article was titled “DNA sweep reveals new autism genes” at Cosmos Online)

This new idea for reporting science came after Krishna Bharat, the man who guides Google News, told The Atlantic this week that what astonished him most about the news business was the predictable and pack-like response of most of the world’s news outlets to most stories.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2010/06/how-to-save-the-news/8095/

It’s as true for science stories as it is for politics, sport and business. The weekly studies published in the two major scientific journals, Nature and Science, are covered by hundreds – if not thousands – of media outlets around the world.

Yet very few science news stories cater to the people usually uninterested in science, and very few cater to the people highly knowledgeable in science. Where would you go for more information if you fit into either of these categories?

Check out the story tracker at The Guardian, and if you love it or hate it, let us know. “

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jun/09/genetics-autism-story-tracker