Replacing the microbes that inhabit the gut may ease digestive troubles and social difficulties in children with autism.

Two of the women mistakenly thought they were participating in a clinical trial, as the procedure was advertised on a government-run clinical trial website.

Mice have long been the mainstay of autism research, but a small group of scientists say rats are the superior choice. Rats are bigger, smarter, friendlier — and a lot more fun.

One week of treatment with the hormone oxytocin improves social skills and feeding in infants with Prader-Willi syndrome.

Many researchers oppose unfettered deregulation of the drug approval process, but welcome more relaxed rules for clinical trials.

Robert Califf, the just-departed commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, offers his take on the Trump administration’s plans to speed up drug approvals and dramatically reduce regulations at the agency.

Clinical trials for autism drugs have been plagued with problems: bad design, the wrong measures, too broad a range of participants. All that is finally starting to change.

A new ‘knowledge engine’ collects reams of behavioral and sensory data to create highly sensitive outcome measures for autism drugs.

Our picks for the top 10 papers of the year highlight leaps in our understanding of autism, as well as lingering gaps.

People with autism — and their family members — are susceptible to powerful placebo effects. Some researchers are using the problem to better understand this mystifying phenomenon.