Reports of a century-old drug that reverses autism-like symptoms in mice raise key questions about the complexity of translating promising research into real treatments.

A single dose of a drug used to treat African sleeping sickness temporarily improves symptoms of autism in a mouse model, according to a study published last week in Translational Psychiatry.

Injecting antibodies taken from mothers of children with autism directly into the brains of fetal mice results in autism-like behaviors in the mice in adulthood, according to a study published 5 March in Behavioural Brain Research.

Watch the complete replay of Joseph Gleeson explaining how DNA sequencing can help find treatments, including dietary supplements, for rare types of autism.

Watch the complete replay of Sarkis Mazmanian discussing new findings that support a connection between the gut microbiome and the autism brain. Submit your own follow-up questions.

A handful of studies point to dietary deficiencies as a contributing factor in some forms of autism, suggesting that supplements — such as carnitine or certain amino acids — may help treat and even prevent the disorder.

Rare, inherited mutations contribute to a significant proportion of autism cases, helping to explain the heritability of the disorder, according to two new studies published today in Neuron.

Spontaneous, or de novo, mutations are present in about half of individuals with severe intellectual disability who do not have large genetic disruptions, according to two sequencing studies published in November.

The brains of individuals with autism express low levels of genes involved in metabolism and protein assembly, according to a postmortem study published 12 September in PLoS One.

A cholesterol-lowering drug called lovastatin prevents seizures in mice that model fragile X syndrome, according to a poster presented Sunday at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.