Autism Speaks’ MSSNG project reaches 10,000 genome milestone

This spring, the MSSNG project achieved its initial goal of sequencing 10,000 whole genomes of people with autism and their families.

“MSSNG is central to our goal to rapidly develop ways to personalize care for people with autism,” says Thomas Frazier, PhD, chief science officer of Autism Speaks. “It gives researchers a powerful resource to better understand the genetics of autism and how they relate to each person’s strengths and challenges.”

This important milestone of reaching 10,000 genomes will ensure that the many different subtypes of autism will be represented as researchers develop more personalized heath care for people with autism. It will also play an integral role in expanding the world’s understanding of autism.

Launched in 2015, the MSSNG project is one of the world’s largest open-source precision medicine databases specific to understanding autism. Its data is freely shared globally between 58 institutions across 16 countries and invites the greatest minds in science to work together to develop solutions.

The MSSNG project has already produced transformational autism research studies. With this new milestone, Autism Speaks will help fuel more discoveries more quickly.

Autism Speaks is proud to collaborate with some of the world’s leading researchers in order to continue to expand the MSSNG project’s database. And we extend our deepest thanks to donors like you, who make groundbreaking research projects like MSSNG possible.