Benefits of diets for autism features remain unproven, variants of the same DNA region make brains big or small, and STAT announces a new CRISPR tracker.

Boys with autism have smaller heads, are shorter and weigh less at birth than typical children do — but all that changes by age 3.

Neurons derived from people with mutations linked to autism display diverse abnormalities that may help explain the origins of these individuals’ features.

Children with mutations in a gene called DYRK1A, a leading autism candidate, have a distinct set of features, including intellectual disability, speech delay, motor problems and a small head.

A cannabis gel may ease features of fragile X syndrome, omega fatty acids show promise for autism in two trials, and oxytocin reinforces social behaviors through the brain’s reward pathway.

The evidence linking autism and maternal infections grows, special neuron recipes are in development, a CRISPR pioneer envisions unicorns, and 23andMe delivers empathy data.

‘Mini-brains’ created in a dish may reveal autism’s roots and point to treatments, but they do not yet mirror some critical features of a human brain.

A mutation that prevents some amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, from entering the brain may lead to autism.

The jury is still out on autism screening, technology to track wandering children is under attack, and a sensitive Santa Claus sees children on the spectrum.

Watch the complete replay of Alysson Muotri, whose webinar focuses on how stem cell research can provide insight into human neurodevelopment and the social brain.