Here’s a selection of our quotes, both pithy and funny, from news and opinion articles published in 2014.

2014 has been a big year for autism research, with a long list of notable papers and advances. Still, there’s plenty for autism researchers to learn from the successes — and struggles — of their colleagues in other fields.

For 2014, rather than compile the ‘top tools and techniques’ — a list certain to include CRISPR and other technical tricks detailed in our weekly Toolboxes — we asked researchers to dream up the next big tool in autism research. Their wishes range from protein sequencers to scanners that can capture brain activity during daily activities.

From diagnosing autism on YouTube to a drug made from broccoli, 2014 was no stranger to controversy. But within some of these unusual studies lie important kernels for autism research.

When big research findings hit the press, it’s usually just the lead investigators who get the kudos. But they know their work stands on the shoulders of many, many individuals whose crucial roles go mostly unappreciated.

This year was full of big headlines in autism research. But the biggest stories aren’t necessarily the best — here are some gems you may have missed over the year.

2014 was a remarkable year for autism research, and behind the scenes at SFARI.org, too, there were seismic shifts. Here’s how these changes will unfold over the coming year.

An analysis of genes expressed in the postmortem brains of people with autism has identified three molecular pathways linked to the disorder. The findings, published 10 December in Nature Communications, add to mounting evidence that the myriad causes of autism converge on common biological processes.

Individuals with autism may become overwhelmed by rapidly changing circumstances, particularly if they need to use social cues to navigate those changes.

A new computational approach predicts how sequence variations in both the coding and noncoding regions of a gene affect the gene’s expression. The method, described today in Science, may help researchers understand how specific variants contribute to disorders such as autism.