A speech-language pathologist by training, Wetherby has spent more than four decades developing tools to help identify and treat autism early; now her work has taken on a more personal sense of urgency.

The mutation increases the activity of an autism-linked protein and leads to social difficulties and other behavioral differences in mice.

Children with congenital heart disease have an increased likelihood of autism. Why?

The request is energizing scientists investigating autistic people who largely don’t communicate with spoken words.

When combined with tissue-inflation methods, the microscope can image axons without the need for tissue slicing, the researchers say.

But multiple independent researchers say they are not convinced by its results, which fail to confirm high-profile findings from 2017.

The approach prompts cultured cells to correct the genetic mutation in fragile X syndrome using their own DNA repair system, but it still needs to be tested further.

Nonrandom mating — the propensity for people to partner with others who share their traits — can increase the likelihood of autism or other conditions across generations.

Mice with microglia missing receptors for the neurotransmitter serotonin since birth have too many synapses and show social difficulties in adulthood.

Whole-genome sequencing data — which include information about mitochondrial DNA — offer clues to why mutations in the same gene can lead to autism or cancer.