2014: Year in review

Recent articles

Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Notable papers of 2014

It’s no easy feat to whittle down the list of the most influential autism papers to a mere 10. So please consider this but a taste of the burgeoning field, presented in chronological order and based on suggestions from many researchers.

By Amedeo Tumolillo
22 December 2014 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Art on the spectrum

Nestled between galleries in Manhattan’s art district is a studio like no other. It brims with the energy of 40 artists, all of whom have autism.

By Katie Moisse
22 December 2014 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Quotes of the year 2014

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

By Katie Moisse
22 December 2014 | 1 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Lessons from other fields

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.

By Katie Moisse
22 December 2014 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Tomorrow’s tools

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.

By Katie Moisse
22 December 2014 | 7 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Hot topics in 2014

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.

By Jessica Wright
22 December 2014 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Unsung heroes of 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.

By Katie Moisse
22 December 2014 | 1 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Editors’ picks: Our favorite stories from 2014

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.

By Amedeo Tumolillo
22 December 2014 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Big changes ahead in 2015

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.

By Apoorva Mandavilli
22 December 2014 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Clockwise: lab mouse, zebrafish, octopus, rat pushing a cube, nematodes, fruit fly.

The term ‘model organism’ should be reserved for biological systems

By referring to artificial neural networks as model organisms, we run the risk of distorting funding priorities and disregard the explanatory power of a shared evolutionary history across biological organisms.

By Marc Coutanche
13 November 2026 | 6 min read

New phase of BRAIN Initiative spawns basal ganglia ‘parts list’

With a standardized cell naming system and infrastructure for data collection and analysis, the basal ganglia project sets the stage for a whole-brain primate atlas.

By Claudia López Lloreda
12 November 2026 | 1 min watch
Research image showing genes containing microexons in mice.

Machine-learning model spots autism-linked variants that scramble splicing

The model provides a way to investigate genetic variation in regions of the genome whose functions have been difficult to interpret.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
12 November 2026 | 4 min read