The human body has about 25,000 genes. Researchers already know of 65 genes they believe carry a risk for autism. Now, researchers at Princeton University in New Jersey have identified 2,500 more that could help create the conditions for autism. The discovery is important because the genes could lead scientists toward finding a cause and, possibly, a treatment. Autism is a condition that makes it difficult for some people to communicate, learn and socialize. Arjun Krishnan is a researcher at Princeton’s Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics. He says researchers used what they called a machine-learning computer program to identify autism-related genes. Krishnan explains that the program identified similarities between brain-related genes and the 65 autism-risk genes.