Genes

Mice missing a copy of CHD8, a top autism gene, show a signaling imbalance in their brains — a finding in line with a popular hypothesis about autism’s origins.

A new method uses mutations in DNA to maintain a detailed record of series of cellular events.

New findings hint at why drugs that work in mouse models of fragile X syndrome have not been effective in people.

An experimental drug silences a DNA segment and seems to prevent seizures and death in a condition related to autism.

A molecule made by mitochondria, the energy factories of cells, might help doctors forecast the impact of mutations in a top autism gene.

The largest analysis of sequences from autistic people and their families implicates 184 genes in the condition — nearly doubling the previous estimate.

SETD5, a leading candidate for autism risk, may control thousands of genes by modifying a protein involved in packaging DNA.

Deleting the mutation from an autism gene may reverse some autism traits in mice, according to a new study. But the results may be a fluke.

An analysis of genetic sequences from nearly 500 people with autism and their relatives has linked 13 new genes to the condition. It has also uncovered a genetic cause for autism in about 10 percent of the autistic participants.