Scientists peel back the layers of genetic complexity in autism, starting with the master regulator CHD8.
 

A new method allows researchers to extract chromatin — the DNA-protein complex that helps to regulate gene expression — from tissue samples weighing as little as 1 milligram.

In a feat that unites findings from 2,800 experiments in more than 100 types of cells, researchers have mapped the human epigenome — the many layers of code that turn genes on or off.

Children with too many or too few copies of certain genes are more likely to have autism, as are children born to women who battled a severe infection while pregnant. These seemingly disparate risk factors may work together to worsen autism symptoms.

Investors pour money into ‘brain medicines,’ and people with autism debate the need for a cure.

The little-studied autism gene ANKRD11 helps to package DNA in the nucleus and plays a critical role in the early growth and positioning of neurons.

A new database that maps changes in gene expression in the prefrontal cortex shows that autism-linked genes are expressed differently than other genes through six stages of life.

Researchers increasingly use mice to investigate the role of gut microbes in autism and other conditions, but there are significant anatomical and other differences between mice and men, cautions a new review.

Fetal mice that have too many neurons grow to show social deficits and repetitive behaviors. The finding, reported 11 December in Cell Reports, debuts a mouse model of autism that’s based on a biological abnormality seen in some people with the disorder.

A new method is faster and more accurate than previous methods at revealing the complex folds that help to fit nearly six feet of DNA into the tiny nucleus of a cell.