After a year of intense growth, funding for biotech is in decline. The result is layoffs and program cuts — and maybe some innovation.

Tweets this week consider new research on how rare gene variants contribute to complex traits and microglia change their shape, plus views on diagnosing autism virtually.

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 13 February.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a reckoning, in which autism clinicians had to redefine best practices and expand how children are evaluated. The remote assessments they developed may help solve a persistent problem: the long wait families endure to get a diagnosis in the United States.

Chung, a clinical and molecular geneticist, plans to continue serving as principal investigator of two large research projects involving cohorts of people with autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions.

Countries across Latin America and the Caribbean struggle to collect data on autism, but Cecilia Montiel-Nava and the Latin American Autism Spectrum Network are beginning to change that.

This week’s newsletter considers tweets about the assumptions baked into brain-imaging studies; the reach of brain waves; and a diet-based intervention for a rare autism-linked condition.

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 6 February.

High school interns don’t just gain new skills — they also form a pipeline of future scientists.