A large-scale tool to investigate the function of autism spectrum disorder genes

(Harvard University) Scientists have developed a technology to investigate the function of many different genes in many different cell types at once, in a living organism. They applied the large-scale method to study dozens of genes associated with autism spectrum disorder, identifying how specific cell types in the developing mouse brain are impacted by mutations. The "Perturb-Seq" method is an efficient way to identify potential biological mechanisms underlying disease and is broadly applicabl...