Considering the important role of the WNT2 gene in brain development, our results therefore indicate that the WNT2 gene is one of the strong candidate genes for autism.
Based on these findings, we hypothesize that rare mutations occur in the WNT2 gene that significantly increase susceptibility to autism even when present in single copies, while a more common WNT2 allele (or alleles) not yet identified may exist that contributes to the disorder to a lesser degree.