AUTISM

Diphtheria and polio are generally thought of as historical relics, diseases to go along with consumption as plot devices for period piece movies and historical fiction novels. For some kids, though, these bacterial menaces could become very much a part of a modern life.

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that autistic children had 67 percent more neurons in the prefrontal cortex and heavier brains compared to typical children.

A UC San Diego study shows autistic children have an average of 67 percent more brain cells, with significantly heavier brains than their normally developing peers. The excess of brain cells in the prefrontal cortex suggest autism begins in the womb, not (as previously imagined) in infancy or toddlerhood. Extra brain cells cause autistic kids to have too much of a good thing.

Phoenix Jones, the Seattle superhero, loses job following his arrest last month.

We are born pre-wired for mental illness

In a law suit representing more than 350 organizations, the Center For Food Safety has demanded that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration require companies to label foods that have been genetically modified.

California governor Jerry Brown signs law requiring insurance companies to cover autism therapies.

Voice-activated personal assistant Siri could revolutionize the way we use our mobile phones. But how would Apple's new voice technology perform on the iPad?

While the high U.S. unemployment rate is an ongoing challenge for many people, Illinois-based Aspiritech, a nonprofit, seeks a particular group of adults to test a new software -- those with Autism.

Governor announced plan that will track child obesity throughout the state.

An 8-year-old autistic boy who disappeared on Monday morning in Southern California was found safe after more than 24 hours in the San Bernardino Mountains.

After attacking Gov. Rick Perry's move to mandate Gardasil, an HPV vaccine, for 6th grade girls in Texas, Rep. Michele Bachmann implied the vaccination could cause mental retardation.

An autistic boy who disappeared on Monday in Southern California was found safe on Tuesday in a rare happy ending to a missing-child story.

Joshua Robb, 8, ran away from his school on Monday.

Companies that make the gene-sequencing devices used in scientific research face a tough few years as potential cuts to the U.S. federal budget squeeze funding to its main academic and research customers.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which helped guide the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program that funds children who experience side effects from vaccines, has commissioned a report after 17 years that found no link with autism and Type 1 diabetes after taking certain vaccines.

There is a growing group of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children, believing that vaccines increase the risk of autism, diabetes, asthma and other ailments. But a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies concludes that adverse effects are extremely rare.

A report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services helped guide the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which provides a pool of money to take care of children who experience side effects from vaccines, federal scientists say.

Presidential candidate Rick Perry underwent a controversial stem-cell treatment this past month, prompting some doctors to fear the high-profile event would send the wrong signal to desperate patients.

Parents with autistic children run a higher risk with a 1 in 5 chance of having a second child with autism, new research has shown.

One in five siblings of autistic children are at risk of being autistic themselves