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

A human silhouette with lines connecting the brain to various organs.

PIEZO channels are opening the study of mechanosensation in unexpected places

The force-activated ion channels underlie the senses of touch and proprioception. Now scientists are using them as a tool to explore molecular mechanisms at work in internal organs, including the heart, bladder, uterus and kidney.

By Calli McMurray
30 January 2026 | 6 min read
US Department of Health and Human Services building.

Latest iteration of U.S. federal autism committee comes under fire

The new panel “represents a radical departure from all past rosters,” says autism researcher Helen Tager-Flusberg.

By Angie Voyles Askham
29 January 2026 | 9 min read
Progenitors cells in the medial ganglionic eminence become increasingly organized during development as rows of brain imaging progress from top to bottom.

‘Tour de force’ study flags fount of interneurons in human brain

The newly discovered cell type might point to the origins of the inhibitory imbalance linked to autism and other conditions.

By Holly Barker
29 January 2026 | 4 min read

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