I’ve written a lot of stories about autism research, and I’d say one of the biggest scientific developments in the past few years was the creation of ‘autistic’ mice. Researchers first found many, many genes associated with autism in people, and then created dozens of mouse models that carry one or more of those same genetic glitches.

In the fall of 2011, for example, one team debuted mice with extra copies of a gene called UBE3A. Approximately 1 to 3 percent of children with autism carry extra copies of the same gene. These mutant mice show little interest in social interactions, compared with controls. They also emit fewer vocalizations and repetitively groom themselves. This was heralded as something of