But the alternatives, including living-brain biopsies, raise logistical and ethical questions, experts say.

Genes exert their strongest influence on the brain in the first half of gestation — a key window for autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

The most comprehensive study of neurodevelopmental conditions in Kenya and South Africa ever conducted shares preliminary results and lessons.

Exposing neurons to valproic acid, a well-known environmental risk factor for autism, disrupts their ability to generate different proteins from the same gene.

The study also reveals a link between language development and common variants.

My recommendations aim to foster a collaborative relationship between researchers and the Autistic community, resulting in an increase in the availability of genetic data.

The catalog of rare copy number variants tied to autism and other conditions could help researchers identify which genes account for the mutations’ effects.

The new tool may help researchers reconstruct the sequence of biological events that underlie development.

Troves of sequencing data reveal genes tied to autism through different variant types, providing a more complete picture of the condition’s genetic roots and new clues to its heterogeneity.

The mutations occur spontaneously in noncoding stretches of DNA that control gene expression.