Researchers are developing a resource that will allow scientists to engineer mice lacking one of 162 microRNAs — non-coding regions of the genome that regulate gene expression. The results were published 19 April in Cell Reports.

A ten-year initiative announced last month by the Allen Institute for Brain Science aims to catalog the development, structure and function of neural circuits in the brain at an unprecedented level of detail.

Researchers have generated neurons from the blood cells of individuals with autism, according to a study published 7 March in Neuroscience Letters.

Simulating neuronal development in culture with cells derived from human brain tissue offers a new way to study the function of autism-linked genes, according to research published in the February issue of Molecular Psychiatry.

The ten notable papers picked by SFARI staff describe superb contributions that span the breadth of autism research from molecules to behavior. But we recognize that ten other articles might have been selected without loss of enthusiasm or excitement.

Researchers have uncovered cellular abnormalities in Timothy syndrome by regenerating neurons from individuals with the rare autism-related disorder, according to a study published 27 November in Nature Medicine.

Researchers have derived neurons from stem cells to investigate mutations that lead to Rett and fragile X syndromes.

Stem cells reprogrammed to become neurons can provide a picture of gene expression in neurons that is traditionally available only from brain tissue.

A new technique allows researchers to make stable modifications to neurons by incorporating modified amino acids into the proteins of stem cells. The method permits researchers to investigate neuronal function in live, intact cells.

A multi-site collaborative venture between the U.S., Canada and Europe has created nearly 17,000 mouse embryonic stem cell lines, each lacking one of the genes in the mouse genome.