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Aug 27, 2026 · Archive
Science

UCSF Maps 1,800 Protein Links Across 100 Autism Risk Genes

The decade-long project found 87% of those interactions were unknown, aiming drugs at shared molecular interfaces instead of each gene.

  • Researchers screened 100 high-confidence autism genes, far more than earlier studies covering only a handful.
  • The Krogan, Willsey and State labs built this atlas over more than a decade of work.
  • The map targets molecular interfaces instead of genes, a blueprint that also fits cancer and neurodegeneration.

Why it matters: A hundred genes converging on shared molecular chokepoints means autism was never as scattered as it seemed.

UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (official news) ↗ · Aug 27, 20268/27/26