Memories from Diering’s life trace the rising star’s scientific path from raising lizards as a child and later exploring home brewing to heading a lab that investigates memory, sleep disturbances and early development in animals with autism-linked mutations.

Many autism-linked genes are somehow tied to cilia, the tiny hair-like sensors that stud a cell’s surface. But the question remains whether, and how, cilia differences contribute to the condition.

A new gene therapy approach for epilepsy tamps down neural activity on demand.

Rumbaugh, who studies how the autism-linked gene SYNGAP1 shapes brain development, describes how he has embraced coastal living and which aspects of his career he wouldn’t do over.

Having an infection during pregnancy is tied to a small increase in the chances of having an autistic child, but the connection may not be causal.

The in-depth approach shows mutations in the autism-linked gene disrupt neuronal growth and communication, as well as mitochondrial gene expression.

Within the 16p region of the genome, the two types of variants similarly decrease neuronal gene expression — an effect that may reflect their spatial relationship.

The model enables the study of autism-linked genes at the earliest stages of neural development.

A young researcher faces down the skeptics.

Psychiatric genomics promises to shed light on the genetic basis of autism, but it’s vital to include Africa in this research, Iyegbe and Okewole say.