ASHG 2021

Recent articles

Many mouths making conversation, with speech bubbles in red and blue.

Community Newsletter: Twitter dispatches from the American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting

In this week’s Community Newsletter, we highlight online conversations about the conference’s technology foibles and scientific tours de force.

By Spectrum
24 October 2021 | 4 min read
Illustration: a 3D DNA molecule sits on a gridded background, with yellow paper rays arrayed around it.

Subset of autism cases linked to mutations in noncoding genome

Autism involves mutations in noncoding portions of the genome in at least 3 percent of people with the condition. The mutations occur in regions that help regulate known autism-linked genes.

By Laura Dattaro
20 October 2021 | 3 min read

Autism-linked genetic variants increase, decrease intelligence

Common and rare variants in or near autism-associated genes can have opposite effects on cognition.

By Laura Dattaro
19 October 2021 | 4 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Neuroscientist Julieta Sztarker holds an open-air teach-in for the general public in Plaza Italia in Buenos Aires.

Funding crisis in Argentina sparks new wave of protests

Two years after the country’s research funding collapsed, scientists are demonstrating against the government’s failure to restore previously cut scholarships and increase salaries as required by a 2025 law.

By Claudia López Lloreda, Natalia Mesa
8 May 2026 | 4 min read
Conceptual image of disjointed communication.

‘Slightly unhinged’ federal autism meeting portends unclear research priorities

The meeting last week sparked concerns about the latest Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s ability to perform its core function: developing a strategy to support autism research.

By Daisy Yuhas
7 May 2026 | 5 min read

Ehud Ahissar offers a new kind of dualism for neuroscience

He explains how “perceptual dualism” can account for the way we communicate via digital symbols and perceive the world via analog brain processes.

By Paul Middlebrooks
6 May 2026 | 102 min listen