G C A T T A C G G C A T genes Article Genetic Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Pakistani Population Madiha Khalid 1,2, Hashim Raza 3, Terri M. Driessen 2, Paul J. Lee 4, Leon Tejwani 4, Abdul Sami 1, Muhammad Nawaz 5 , Shahid Mehmood Baig 6, Janghoo Lim 2,4,7,8,9,* and Ghazala Kaukab Raja 1,* 1 Department of Biochemistry, University Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan;
[email protected] (M.K.);
[email protected] (A.S.) 2 Department of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA;
[email protected] 3 Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan;
[email protected] 4 Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA;
[email protected] (P.J.L.);
[email protected] (L.T.) 5 Department of Rheumatology and Inflammation Research, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 41346 Gothenburg, Sweden;
[email protected] 6 Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan;
[email protected] 7 Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA 8 Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA 9 Yale Stem Cell Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA * Correspondence:
[email protected] (J.L.);
[email protected] (G.K.R.); Tel.: +1-203-737-6268 (J.L.); +92-(051)-9062-742 (G.K.R.) Received: 25 August 2020; Accepted: 13 October 2020; Published: 15 October 2020 Abstract: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of complex multifactorial neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders in children characterized by impairment of communication and social interaction.