Dr Russell Snell Photo: Supplied
To mark Brain Day 2017, Kim Hill talks to Professor Russell Snell - a world-renowned geneticist based at the University of Auckland who has long studied human disease genes and gene variation.
Recently, he co-founded the Minds for Minds Reseach Network, which looks into variations in DNA that cause autism.
Brain Day is a free public event held between 9.30am and 3pm at the University of Auckland business school.