Scientists have discovered that mutations in the RNU4-2 gene cause a neurodevelopmental disorder.
Findings from the global collaboration, which was led by the University of Oxford, are published in Nature.
Mutations in the gene are estimated to account for nearly 0.5 percent of all neurodevelopmental disorders globally, which amounts to hundreds of thousands of people.
'It's not unusual to discover a neurodevelopmental disorder, but it is incredibly unusual to discover one that is this common,' said Dr Nicola Whiffin, from the Big Data Institute and Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford. 'This is surprisingly frequent.'
Read more in the Guardian.
