Genes Positively Selected in Domesticated Mammals Are Significantly Dysregulated in the Blood of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

ABSTRACT: Human self-domestication (i.e., the presence of traits in our species that are commonly found in domesticated animals) has been hypothesized to have contributed to the emergence of many human-specific features, including aspects of our cognition and behavior. Signs of self-domestication have been claimed to be attenuated in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), this conceivably accounting for facets of their distinctive cognitive and behavioral profile, although this possibility needs to be properly tested. In this study, we have found that candidate genes for mammal domestication, but not for neural crest development and function, are significantly dysregulated in the blood of subjects with ASD. The set of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) is enriched in biological and mol

SUBMITTER: Benitez-Burraco A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6995977 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature