Hindsight is 2020: The year in review
2020 in research images
Feast your eyes on glowing glia and organoids; high-resolution, digital renditions of mouse brains; fluorescent beads passing through zebrafish guts and more.
![top-down view of the mouse brain](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Image-4-844.jpg)
2020 in research images
Feast your eyes on glowing glia and organoids; high-resolution, digital renditions of mouse brains; fluorescent beads passing through zebrafish guts and more.
Rewind: Spectrum’s best from 2020
Our staff picks the stories, podcasts and special reports that stood out from the rest this past year.
![researcher facing off with the coronavirus.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20200617-COVIDSR-844.jpg)
Rewind: Spectrum’s best from 2020
Our staff picks the stories, podcasts and special reports that stood out from the rest this past year.
Inside the reporter’s notebook: Dispatches from 2020
Spectrum's staff couldn't report on the ground this year — with no lab visits, sit-down interviews or in-person conferences to attend — but we observed a lot of changes from our computer screens.
![Lab scene during COVID 19 pandemic.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20201223-Notebook844.jpg)
Inside the reporter’s notebook: Dispatches from 2020
Spectrum's staff couldn't report on the ground this year — with no lab visits, sit-down interviews or in-person conferences to attend — but we observed a lot of changes from our computer screens.
Hot topics in autism research, 2020
The Spectrum team highlights five topics that distinguished autism research in 2020: diversity in data, gene therapies, subtyping, social circuitry and the ‘autism gene’ debate.
![Micrograph of nerve cells being targeted by CRISPR enzyme to activate the silenced gene in Angelman syndrome](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/20201106-Cas9Angelman-844.jpg)
Hot topics in autism research, 2020
The Spectrum team highlights five topics that distinguished autism research in 2020: diversity in data, gene therapies, subtyping, social circuitry and the ‘autism gene’ debate.
Notable papers in autism research, 2020
Gene therapies and the factors influencing autism traits top Spectrum’s list of the 10 most notable research findings we covered in 2020.
![White lab mouse sitting in a gloved hand.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/20200924-SUDEP-Dravet-844.jpg)
Notable papers in autism research, 2020
Gene therapies and the factors influencing autism traits top Spectrum’s list of the 10 most notable research findings we covered in 2020.
Explore more from The Transmitter
New connectomes fly beyond the brain
Researchers are mapping the neurons in Drosophila’s ventral nerve cord, where the central nervous system meets the rest of the body.
![Research image of neurons in the fly’s ventral nerve cord.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/lede-motormodules-1200-1024x692.webp)
New connectomes fly beyond the brain
Researchers are mapping the neurons in Drosophila’s ventral nerve cord, where the central nervous system meets the rest of the body.
Building an autism research registry: Q&A with Tony Charman
A purpose-built database of participants who have shared genomic and behavioral data could give clinical trials a boost, Charman says.
![Illustration of researchers talking to laypeople amidst strands of DNA.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1200_Charman-1024x687.webp)
Building an autism research registry: Q&A with Tony Charman
A purpose-built database of participants who have shared genomic and behavioral data could give clinical trials a boost, Charman says.
Cerebellar circuit may convert expected pain relief into real thing
The newly identified circuit taps into the brain’s opioid system to provide a top-down form of pain relief.
![](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/paincircuit-1200-1024x692.webp)
Cerebellar circuit may convert expected pain relief into real thing
The newly identified circuit taps into the brain’s opioid system to provide a top-down form of pain relief.