article_snippet: Autism is mainly caused by a child’s genes, a major study of British twins has found.
article_snippet: Scientists said that, in the average boy or girl with autism, genetics explain up to 98 per cent of the illness.
article_snippet: Controversial research linking autism with the MMR jab has been widely discredited, but more recent concern has focused on the condition being fuelled by environmental factors such as pollution.
article_snippet: With cases of autism much more common today than in the past, many fear it is also being caused by modern lifestyles.
article_snippet: Estimates suggest that as many as one in 100 people in the UK now has autism.
article_snippet: a major study of British twins, in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, concluded that rogue DNA explains between 74 and 98 per cent of the cause of the average case of autism.
article_snippet: Controversial research which linked autism with the MMR jab has now been widely discredited (file picture)
article_snippet: ‘Our findings suggest environmental factors are smaller, which is important because some parents are concerned whether things like high pollution might be causing autism.
article_snippet: Dr Judith Brown, of the National Autistic Society, said:
article_snippet: Autism is a highly complex story of genes not only interacting with other genes, but with non-genetic factors too.
article_snippet: This large population-based twin sample is significant because This large population-based twin sample helps us to understand much more about the role genetics play in autism and opens up the possibility of whole families gaining a better understanding of a condition whole families may share.
article_snippet: ‘us are still a long way from knowing what leads to autism.
article_snippet: The study looked at 128 pairs of twins in which at least one sibling had an autism diagnosis, between the ages of 12 and 14.
article_snippet: Lead researcher Beata Tick said: ‘The study shows that the genes are very important and the increased rate of autism is more down to awareness than environmental factors.
article_snippet: Latest figures suggest more than one in 100 people in Britain has autism, including related conditions such as Asperger’s syndrome.
highlights_snippet: Controversial research has linked Autism with MMR jab and environment .
  