Overexpressing genes involved in the pathway, which regulates protein quality, changes repetitive behaviors in the animals.

The gene, dubbed NHIP, is in a chromosomal region that shows unusually low levels of DNA methylation in placentas from women who gave birth to autistic children.

The neurons, which have low levels of the gene ASH1L, sprout more branches after the treatment.

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.

Loss of the POGZ gene in mice makes certain genes inaccessible and prevents their expression.

Autism may involve different levels of RNA isoforms encoded by genes in the brain, which express many more proteins than previously thought.

In mice with a mutated copy of SHANK3, stress induces social deficits and alters gene expression in certain excitatory neurons. But eliminating a stress-related protein that regulates SHANK3 restores typical social functioning in the animals.

As 2021 comes to a close, Spectrum recaps some of the biggest trends in autism science this year: studies of sex differences, noncoding regions of the genome and points of convergence, as well as efforts to improve screening and participatory research.

Developmental delay, intellectual disability and behavioral issues are common among people who have mutations in MYT1L, a gene with strong ties to autism.

Many genes linked to autism are switched on in the brain’s glia, cells that help neurons develop and synapses form.