How Helen Willsey broke new ground, frogs in hand
A young researcher faces down the skeptics.
A young researcher faces down the skeptics.
The fact that autism seems to affect more boys than girls is often attributed to diagnostic gaps, but the skew remains largely unexplained. Some scientists are turning to basic biology for answers.
Mosaic mutations, which affect only some of the body’s cells, play a small but meaningful role in autism. Though they are difficult to study, researchers are working to master their complexity.
After a year of juggling research, childcare and COVID-19 anxiety, some early-career academics are rethinking their place in autism science.
The high levels of serotonin seen in the blood of some autistic people have confounded scientists for more than half a century. Despite so little progress, some researchers refuse to give up.
About one-third of the HNRNP gene family’s 33 members may be associated with neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism.
An autism-linked mutation could make the brain grow unusually large by prompting cells to express a chemical signal better known for its connection to cancer.
Researchers have uncovered more than 1,200 new protein-protein interactions involving proteins coded for by autism-linked genes.
Children with highly folded and curved brains in utero tend to show autism-linked behaviors at 18 months of age, according to a longitudinal brain-imaging study.
A novel method to evaluate the strength of the evidence linking autism to specific genes could reveal which ones are most useful to screen for.