Cell inventory: A new study demonstrates the power of combining molecular biology methods to ascertain somatic mosaicism in people. The investigators used single-cell, whole-genome amplification in induced pluripotent stem cells in combination with methods for parallel analysis of genomes and transcriptomes to characterize genetic variation in different tissues from the same person. Potential errors were […]
In May, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed interest in expanding access to experimental therapies, including stem cells, during a podcast interview. He also acknowledged that he has received unproven stem cell treatment in Antigua. These comments, taken with his broader interest in autism and enthusiasm for alternative […]
Repressing each of the seven genes one at a time in retinal pigment epithelial cells significantly reduced the percentage of cells sporting cilia. For six of those genes, cilia were shorter than usual. The same thing happened in neural progenitor cells when the team suppressed TAOK1 and KMT2E, two high-confidence autism-linked genes that have not […]
Over the objections of the authors, the editors of Nature have retracted a 2022 paper on the cellular origins of medulloblastoma after an independent team’s reanalysis questioned the paper’s key findings. The reanalysis was published as a Matters Arising article today in Nature at the same time as the retraction notice. The 2022 paper, led […]
Illustration by Laurène Boglio Hello and welcome to the community newsletter! I am your host, Chelsey B. Coombs, the engagement editor of Spectrum. What do psychotherapists treating adults know about autism? A thread on a study on autism this week offered some insight. A blind spot in psychiatry? A study by a participatory autism research […]
Cell Service: Parent reports suggest stem cell therapy may have reduced their children’s autism characteristics, but experts remain skeptical. Cavan Images / Getty Images Unknown financial conflicts of interest and a lack of adequate clarification affect a new study that injected four autistic children with stem cells from their own bone marrow, bioethicists say. The […]
Map Quest: Two types of neurons (cortical, top; thalamus, bottom) from different organoid batches are mapped onto a reference view of the developing mouse brain. Dark colors indicate a high degree of similarity between the organoid-derived neurons and the reference map. A new tool is helping researchers study the types of cells that make up […]
Mutations in TSC2, a gene linked to autism and a related condition called tuberous sclerosis complex, cause developing neurons to ignore chemical cues that help them connect, a new study suggests. The results could explain the altered wiring patterns observed in the brains of people with such mutations. TSC2 mutations disrupt the formation of axons, […]
Disorganized scaffolds: Immature brain cells from mutant CUL3 mice have a disordered cytoskeleton (right) compared to controls (left). Mutations in CUL3, a leading autism gene, can disrupt the movement of neurons during development and disrupt the precise assembly of the brain, suggests a new study. Correcting this misdirection could lead to therapy for autism in […]
