Spectrum: Autism Research News

Children with autism are more likely to be overweight or obese than their peers, but it’s unclear why, or what doctors should do about it.

Scientists from some minority groups are less likely than their white counterparts to win a grant, autism researcher Uta Frith is on a list of 100 amazing women, and research chimps go into retirement.

Controversy continues to swirl around CRISPR, sexism in science receives much-needed attention on social media, and adults with autism fear the future.

About 1 in 45 children in the U.S. have autism, up 79 percent from the estimate for 2013. But there is more to the apparent jump in diagnoses than meets the eye.

The infamous ‘impact factor’ does not capture a study’s true influence, an ambitious baby study halts eight months in, and a ‘spectrum’ may not be the best model for autism.

Roughly 13 percent of children with autism eventually lose their diagnosis, either because they outgrow it or because they never had autism to begin with.

Researchers call for a massive collaboration to study the microbiome, and the gene-editing tool CRISPR is in good company with the discovery of three similar systems.

A microscope that sections brain tissue as it scans can trace the tangled paths of thousands of neurons through the brain.

A technique that expands brain tissue to four times its original size lets researchers spot and sequence individual mRNAs — the genetic blueprints for protein production.

A variant in a gene that regulates immune responses is more common in children with autism than in those without this disorder.