Two research groups have achieved an elusive goal: producing mouse models that show distinct social and behavioral abnormalities reminiscent of autism.

Donald T. was not like other 5-year-old boys. Leo Kanner knew that the moment he read the 33-page letter from Donaldʼs father that described the boy in obsessive detail as “happiest when he was alone… drawing into a shell and living within himself… oblivious to everything around him.”

Having the flu during pregnancy can be unpleasant and exhausting. But can it affect fetal brain development and cause autism-like disorders? Intriguing new research says yes ― at least in mice.