In this week’s paper issue of TIME, author Judith Warner explores a provocative theory about why rates of autism, particularly the mild form known as Asperger’s, are on the rise: because people who have certain “autistic” traits …
genetics
The Healthland Podcast: Customizing Your Baby, Masturbation, and the Vaccine Wars
Welcome back! This week we debate the ethics of a blood test that can reveal your baby’s sex at just seven weeks of pregnancy. Also: a big new study on how masturbation affects sexual development. Finally, science editor Jeffrey …
Study: Siblings of Autistic Kids Show Similar Brain Activity
The genetic roots of autism may reach further in families than previously thought, according to new research.
The Healthland Podcast: The Casey Craze, Autism and Tween TV
This week we debate why America has gone precisely nuts over the Casey Anthony verdict. Also, we talk about new findings on the causes of autism. And we try to figure out how TV shapes tween values. Click the play button to …
Next on CSI: Using Saliva to Tell a Person’s Age
If you’re a fan of CSI, you know that dead men don’t tell lies. Not even about their age.
House Watch: What Causes Obsessive Hoarding?
“The bitch is back,” House says in last night’s episode, “The Dig,” which featured the return of Olivia Wilde, who had been off filming Tron: Legacy, Cowboys & Aliens and other movies. Our little Thirteen is quickly …
How Being a Jerk Shortens Your Life
Beware jocks and mean girls: you may be more popular in high school, but according to a new academic paper, it is the smart kids and conscientious glee-club types who will live longer. Not only that, they will suffer fewer …
DNA Tests of Disabled Kids Uncover Evidence of Incest
Advances in genetic testing allow doctors unprecedented access to our DNA. But sometimes these tests reveal disturbing information that doctors weren’t looking for.
Friends with (Genetic) Benefits?
A new study suggests that when it comes to certain genes, friends of a feather flock together—but with others, opposites attract.
Why Chocoholics Should Hug the Nearest Geneticist
The cacao tree, which grows the fruit that turns into chocolate, is one of the oldest cultivated trees on the planet. Over 3,000 years ago, the Mayans domesticated what is thought to be the highest quality variety, Theobroma cacao.
The Roots of Brain Diseases: One Team Finds 1,400 Culprits
Scientists are always trying to discover genetic origins of disease, and this week, one team announced a significant breakthrough.
Study: BPA Exposure May Reduce Chances of IVF
Toxins love to get you while you’re young. Lead, mercury, secondhand smoke and sundry other environmental nasties do a lot more damage when tissue is immature, vulnerable and growing than when it’s mature and comparatively fixed.
Study: More Hope for a Brain Scan for Autism
A team of researchers from the University of Utah and Harvard have reported using a brain-imaging test that looks at connections within the brain in order to distinguish people with autism from those without.