Autism, or Pathologised Evolution?

Autism is widely classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder, yet accumulating evidence suggests it represents a modern diagnostic label applied to evolutionarily conserved, genomically divergent traits. This paper presents a cross-disciplinary research synthesis examining the biological foundations of autism through molecular genetics, immunology, mitochondrial medicine, pharmacogenomics, and systems biology. Studies were selected for relevance to structural and regulatory variation - including redox pathways, immune signalling, ion channels, fatty acid oxidation, and environmentally sensitive epigenetic mechanisms. The synthesis supports a two-stage model of divergence: Stage one reflects ancestrally inherited variation across redox, immune, metabolic, and neurophysiological domains, conferring differential responsivity to environmental input. Stage two involves cumulative toxic or inflammatory stress during sensitive developmental windows, resulting in epigenetic disruption, mitochondrial collapse, and phenotypic regression in susceptible individuals. This model distinguishes stable genomic traits from acquired dysfunction and highlights the risk of conflating environmentally induced harm with intrinsic identity. Findings demonstrate that what is currently pathologised as autism may often reflect adaptive human variation rendered incompatible by industrial exposures and systemic neglect. In this context, autism emerges not as disorder, but as the disrupted expression of distinct biological architectures shaped by ancestral environments. A revised framework is proposed in which phenotype is recognised as the emergent interface between inherited genomic configuration and environmental compatibility, requiring system-level accountability in both classification and intervention.