Since the human genome was first mapped in 2003, scientists have been searching for specific genes that cause autism.

But a new study by Princeton University and Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Biology in New York City suggests we may have been barking up the wrong tree. 

Researchers used artificial intelligence to screen the entire genomes of 1,790 families, each with just one person diagnosed with autism, to understand what genes and snippets of DNA could lead to the disorder in one but not in others.

They found that the disorder did not appear to be caused by mutation to a gene, but by little kinks in the 'junk' DNA that regulates and influences genes.  

Until recently, 'regulatory DNA' has been seen as playing a minor supporting role in the human genomes' performance. 

But the new study, published today, is the first to confirm a long-held theory that disruptions in any aspect of DNA can be the root of serious, complex disorders.