ASHG 2014

Recent articles

Autism risk region arose during human evolution

Humans may be uniquely prone to rearrangements of chromosome 16 that lead to autism, according to preliminary results presented Saturday at the American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting in San Diego.

By Jessica Wright
11 August 2016 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Autism-linked deletion sparks symptoms via many genes

Deletion or duplication of 16p11.2, a chromosomal region linked to autism, may trigger symptoms via the interactions of genes both within and outside the region at a key point in development. Researchers presented these preliminary results Sunday at the 2014 American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting in San Diego.

By Jessica Wright
23 October 2014 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Massive sequencing database helps interpret mutations’ role

Researchers have analyzed more than 90,000 exomes — the protein-coding regions of the genome — the largest such set yet, they announced Monday at the American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting in San Diego. The resource gives scientists an invaluable tool to probe the significance of specific mutations.

By Jessica Wright
23 October 2014 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Scientists plan to release thousands of whole autism genomes

Researchers have sequenced the whole genomes of 1,000 people with autism and their parents, they announced yesterday at the American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting in San Diego. These sequences, and another 1,000 that are on the way, will eventually be freely available online.

By Jessica Wright
21 October 2014 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Whole-genome sequencing reveals new types of autism risk

Much of the genetic risk for autism may reside in regulatory regions of the genome, hidden from traditional methods of sequence analysis. That's the upshot of preliminary results from three studies presented yesterday at the American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting in San Diego.

By Jessica Wright
20 October 2014 | 4 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

The silent majority: How astrocytes shape the brain across scales

Melissa Cooper talks to Mac Shine about her new work that reveals how these glial cells—long dismissed as the brain’s housekeepers—wire together in precise, long-range networks that remodel in response to experience.

By Mac Shine
12 May 2026 | 3 min read
Research image showing brain activity related to sensory sensitivity and hypoconnectivity

Untangling genetic effects, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 11 May.

By Jill Adams
12 May 2026 | 2 min read
Illustration of stacks of papers.

The next unit of science: Is the scientific paper due to be replaced?

Artificial intelligence is pushing scientific publishing to the brink. For a field as sprawling as neuroscience, the crisis may also be an opportunity to finally connect findings across subfields.

By Tim Requarth
11 May 2026 | 11 min read